A New Blue Moon
by Sage Londyn
Summary: For Avery, Teagan and Isaac adjusting to life back in Beacon Hills isn't as easy as they hoped with Teagan keeping a life changing secret from Isaac and Avery still learning to cope with everything she's been through. Things get even more complicated and dangerous when a dead-pool surfaces. -season 4 *can be enjoyed as a stand alone story or part of the series*- Derek/OC - Isaac/OC
1. Wake Up and Dream Once More

**Chapter One – Wake Up and Dream Once More**

* * *

><p><em>You left your home. You're so far from everything you know.<em>

_Your big dream is crashing down and out your door._

_Wake up and dream once more._

_Come back when you can._

_Let go, you'll understand._

_You've done nothing at all to make me love you less._

_So come back when you can._

_Come back, I'll help you stand._

_Let go and hold my hand._

_If all you wanted was me, I'd give you nothing less._

_So come back when you can…_

_Barcelona - Come Back When You Can_

* * *

><p>Teagan turned her head to look out the window, watching the scenery flash by as Isaac drove down the road and Avery sat silently in the back seat. She couldn't believe it had already been two months since the three left Beacon Hills.<p>

While Avery stayed in a treatment center getting the help she needed, Teagan and Isaac stayed in a hotel near by. When they couldn't visit Avery, they would explore the town they were in; finding new and fun things to do or hang out around the hotel and just talk when Teagan was having a bad day.

After Avery was able to shut the door in her mind, she was mentally better. No hallucinations and all her thoughts were her own but emotionally she still had some healing to do.

She still occasionally had nightmares; of being haunted, of the things she did, of losing Allison, but Isaac was there for her each and every time. As a couple they were healing and on the right path, until something happened that could change everything.

**~(Flashback)~**

_"Hey, you ready?" Teagan questioned, as she walked into Avery's room at the treatment center she had been staying at for the last two months._

_"Yeah, this is my last bag." Avery stated, as she folded a shirt and placed it inside the bag. She had a few other shirts beside it that needed to be folded and put in before she could zip it up._

_"After I'm finished with this, I have a few papers that I need to sign then I am free to go." She added with a nervous smile on her face. She was ready to go home, but just nervous about what people would say or think about her break down._

_"Once you're finished, I'll call Isaac and we'll start loading your bags while you sign out." Teagan suggested, as she reached out to grab a shirt to help, but was too distracted to actually fold it._

_"Where is Isaac? Is everything okay?" Avery asked, as she lowered her eyebrows. Things had been great for the couple when they first arrived, and once Avery was allowed visitors they would both show up and she could tell the trip was doing them both well. But the last time they visited she could tell something was bothering her best friend, she seemed worried about something and distracted, even now she looked that way, which worried Avery._

_"He's at the car." Teagan quietly said, as she looked down at the shirt in her hand._

_"Why?" Avery asked confused._

_Teagan sighed, as she ran a hand through her hair. She didn't want to bring Avery down with her problems, not after all she been through, she didn't want to ruin her progress with her drama._

_But when Avery shot her a look, she knew there was no way out of it, she had to tell her what was going on. Besides she had been dealing with this horrible secret on her own for the last week and wasn't sure how much longer she could keep it to herself. She had to confide in someone and her boyfriend was not an option right now._

_When her friend didn't answer, she looked over at her, as she said,"What is going on? Talk to me, T."_

_"We had a fight." Teagan said, as she sat down on the edge of the bed and nervously pulled on the shirt in her hand. "A stupid fight, that is too stupid to repeat, and it was all my fault. He was being so sweet and helpful, trying to figure out what was wrong with me, but I just- I snapped at him."_

_Avery walked over toward her, taking the shirt out of her hand before she stretched it out, and tossed it aside. She opened her mouth to ask something, but before she could, Teagan lifted her head to look at her, her eyes wide as she continued,"I snapped at him, A. Then he started apologizing to me, for upsetting me, which made me feel even worse than I did so I told him to just leave me alone and I jumped out of the car and ran in here."_

_"God, I am the world's worst girlfriend." She added with a sigh, as she dropped her head. She stood up from the bed, beginning to pace across the floor, as the argument with Isaac replayed in her mind. She knew she was wrong while it was happening, but couldn't stop herself from snapping at him, but now that she thought about it more, she realized how much worse it was; how much worse she was._

_"Oh my God… oh my God! I am seriously the worst. I was such a bitch to him!" She said, as she ran her hands through her hair, feeling even more guilty than she did before._

_"Hey, listen, it's okay." Avery said, as placed her hands on Teagan's shoulders to stop her from pacing. "Calm down, T. Just take deep breaths, okay? You are not a bad girlfriend." She waited for Teagan to take a couple of breaths, before she continued, "We're all on edge today, I think. Returning home after being gone for weeks, with no idea of what is waiting for us and it's a long drive. I think we are all excited but also kind of dreading it."_

_As Teagan shook her head, she added, "Come on, T, this is Isaac. He understands what you went through and knows you're probably nervous about going home."_

_She assumed Teagan was nervous and worried about going home, afraid of all the memories hitting her. Being so far away it was easier to forget all of their Beacon Hill supernatural problems, but now they had to face everything; all the hurtful memories, all the mistakes they made, all the people they lost._

_"That's not it." Teagan softly said, as she shook her head again._

_"Then what is it? What is going on with you, T?" Avery asked, as she grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze._

_Tears suddenly filled her eyes, as she whispered out, "I screwed up, A. I screwed up so bad."_

_"What do you mean? What happened?" Avery asked with a concern look._

_Teagan didn't say anything as she looked down with more tears falling down her face. Avery thought back to the last week, thinking about little things Teagan said or did, then felt her eyes widen, having a pretty good idea of what was going on now._

_"Teagan ..." She breathed out in shock. She couldn't believe this was happening to her best friend, out of everyone –she'd never thought this would happen to her._

_"I know, God I know! I'm so stupid." Teagan cried out._

_"Hey, you're not stupid. You're not the first person to do this." Avery said, as she rubbed her arms, trying to calm her down. "Have you talked to Isaac yet?"_

_"No, I-I can't tell him." Teagan said with wide eyes, as she shook her head. "I can't tell him this, Avery. I can't lose him."_

**~(End of flashback)~**

Sensing Isaac looking at her, Teagan turned her head, giving him a small smile. She still felt bad for snapping at him earlier, but before they left; while Avery was signing herself out, she was able to talk to him and apologize for her behavior. He, of course, forgave her, but that didn't make her feel better.

She still shouldn't have snapped at him, plus she was keeping something huge from him. Something she knew she should tell him, but was too scared to.

A few minutes later, he pulled into a gas station to fill up while the girls used the bathroom and grabbed drinks. Teagan was finished first and walked over to the car holding a plastic bag filled with snacks.

"Hey, I got you a water." Teagan said, as she pulled out a bottle of water from the bag and handed it to him.

"Thanks." Isaac said, as he took the bottle from her. He raised his eyebrows, as he looked over at the bag, then asked, "What else did you get? I thought you weren't hungry."

"I didn't think I was, but then I got in there and everything looked good, but I didn't know what I wanted." Teagan answered.

"So you just bought the whole store then?" Isaac teased.

"I told you I didn't know what I wanted." Teagan snapped. "I'm sorry, I'll take it all back." She added, as she went to turn around and walk away.

"Hey, no, wait." Isaac said, as he reached out to stop her. He pulled her toward him, as he laid a hand on the side of her neck and said, "I was just kidding. You can buy whatever snacks you want. Or if you decide you want something else, we can hit a drive thru somewhere. Whatever you want, okay?"

Teagan released a breath as she closed her eyes, hating that she just snapped at him again. She dropped her head, resting it against his chest and whispered out, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Isaac said, as he moved his hand to the back of her neck to massage it. "We're been in the car for a while and I know you're tired." He added, remembering that she didn't get much sleep the night before cause of a nightmare. The first she had in a couple of weeks.

"We'll be home soon though." He continued, as he kissed the side of her head.

"Yeah, but still, I shouldn't take it out on you." Teagan said, as she lifted her head to look at him. "I'm sorry again for earlier, and I'm sorry for now, and I'm just.. I'm sorry, Isaac."

"It's okay." He said again with a smile. He pulled her toward him, pressing his lips against her for a gentle kiss. "It's you and me." He whispered against her lips.

"It's you and me." Teagan whispered back.

Isaac continued to smile at her, as he pushed a lock of hair that had escaped her pony tail, behind her ear. He wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her toward him, holding her as he continued to fill up the car with gas.

The two were still hugging, with Teagan's arms wrapped around his middle and head on his chest, when Avery walked out of the store. She paused; watching the couple, knowing her best friend needed this moment.

She reached into her pocket to pull out her phone and look at the time, at least that was the reason she told herself. She softly sighed, realizing they would be home in a couple of hours which made her a little nervous, although that wasn't what really worried her. It worried her that she had no messages from Derek.

Once the car was filled up, Isaac opened the passenger side door for Teagan, then glanced up, seeing Avery standing there deep in thought.

"Hey! You ready to go?" Isaac called out to her, getting her attention.

"Yeah, let's go." Avery said with a smile. She slipped her phone into her pocket, trying to push Derek out of her mind, as she walked over to the car.

Before she could open the car door, Isaac called out her name, getting her attention. He shot her a concern look, as he asked, "Are you sure you're ready?

A couple of months ago, she would have ignored her feelings; would have pushed the nerves aside and tried to convince everyone she was fine, but she had tools now with dealing with that kind of stuff. She allowed herself to feel those feelings, it was the only way she could work through them and be in a better place.

"I think I am." Avery answered honestly.

Isaac smiled at her answer; the old Avery would have flashed a fake smile and told him of course she was ready. She wasn't completely healed, but he could already see a change in her in the two months they were away.

He laid a hand on her shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze, as he joked, "Avery Dukate is always ready."

"Well of course she is." Avery joked back, as she flicked her hair over her shoulder. "Avery Dukate can do anything."

Isaac laughed at her comment, as he nodded his head toward the car and said, "Let's go home."

**~()~**

Avery ran her hands through her hair and looked up to see Teagan sitting in the passenger seat as Isaac continued to drive them all back to Beacon Hills. The car was silent other than music playing softly through the speakers.

Her brunette best friend sat staring out of her window lost deep in thought and Avery's forehead lined with concern wishing her friend would just open up to Isaac. They'd made it through so much already, she was sure this was something else that in time, they could make it through.

"You guys didn't tell anyone I was coming back today, right?" She softly asked, a little nervous for the answer.

Teagan didn't even seem to hear her, but Isaac looked at the blonde in the rearview mirror as he shook his head, "We were under strict orders not to."

She let out a small sight of relief, as she realized for the first time how nervous she truly was to see everyone again.

Her mind drifted back to her last session with her therapist at the treatment center, after she'd made arraignments to leave.

**~(Flashback)~**

_"Well, I guess that's everything then…" Dr. Sharpe said as he closed the folder in front of him and leaned forward looking at blonde teen sitting on the couch facing his desk._

_"You don't think I'm ready?" She realized with raised eyebrows._

_"Honestly, I think that really depends on you Avery. You've improved so much since our first session, but I don't know if you're ready to return to your life in Beacon Hills." He answered, then clarified, "I would hate for something to set you off and undo two months of progress."_

_She looked down to her hands folded in her lap as she gave a small shrug, "I have to go back, I have responsibilities… people depending on me. I'm better now."_

_He stayed silent and she shrugged again as she looked around the large office._

_Taking a deep breath she pointed out, "No more hallucinations, I can think clearly now. The nightmares are almost gone too…"_

_"What happens when you're back home and there's a party… with alcohol?"_

_Her eyes met his as she said, "I don't plan on attending any parties soon, like you said before… I know my limits and my own weaknesses. I need to avoid temptations, not let myself be in a triggering situation."_

_He nodded with a smile and asked her a few more questions before he noticed her pulling at the fabric of her dark jacket and he asked, "What's bothering you? Nervous about going home?"_

_Swallowing hard she questioned, "What am I supposed to do when someone looks at me like I'm crazy. I live in a small town…people talk…"_

_"People fear what they don't understand. For most, it's difficult to comprehend being in so much pain that the only way out is suicide… so there might be some people who are going to judge you. But just like triggering situations that can set you back, you need to avoid people who make you feel ashamed of what you've been through." He explained._

_With a small, dry laugh she questioned, "So pretty much go back to town with my head held high and screw what everyone else thinks?"_

_"Easier said than done." He reasoned with a sigh, "But you've got a great support system… your friends and your dad."_

_"However… if you don't think you're ready to go back, I highly suggest you stay until the end of your recommended treatment plan."_

_"That's at least another 3 months…" She complained, pinning her eyes shut for a moment before she shook her head, "No, I've got to go back and face everyone eventually."_

_With a kind smile he assured her, "You can do this. You just need to take things one day at a time, and most importantly handle obstacles as they're thrown at you. You can't keep pushing things down like you were doing. It's toxic."_

_"I know." She agreed nodding._

_"So when something happens and you don't feel like you can handle it on your own, you need to talk through it with someone; anyone really. Even if you talk through it with yourself in a journal. But getting those words out… getting the emotions out in the air or on paper will help you come to terms with what's happening." He continued._

_As they both stood up he led her to the door as he said, "Ultimately, these next few weeks are going to either make you or break you. Transitioning back to your life and back to school, it's going to be difficult –there's no doubt about that. But you've learned the tools you need to make it through, healthy ways to cope with emotions from all ends of the spectrum."_

_"Thank you." She said with a genuine smile as he opened the door and she stepped out._

_"You have my card and contact information… once you get settled in, give my office a call and we'll get you set up for an appointment." He reminded her as he gave her shoulder a supportive, comforting squeeze as she walked past him._

**~(End of flashback)~**

Avery's gaze drifted back to the front of her best friend's car as Isaac announced they were almost back in Beacon Hills. She saw him reach over and take Teagan's hand, as he brought it up to his mouth and gave it a gentle kiss, causing the brunette to look over and smile at him.

"Can you guys turn the radio up?" Avery questioned as she slid down in her seat some, flashing Teagan a smile as she looked over her shoulder to make sure her friend was okay.

Once the music was thudding loudly through the speakers, she closed her eyes and laid her head back against the seat. She was nervous about so many things, but the situation weighing the heaviest on her mind was if Derek had told the truth when he'd promised he'd be there when she returned.

There was a small but ever growing fear inside of her that even if he was being honest he might not want anything to do with her now, not after witnessing her at her lowest point.

Almost every day in the treatment facility she'd thought back to the night he'd saved her life, how when he was trying to talk to her down from cutting her wrist…mainly about when he told her he still loved her

At first she'd taken it to mean what he said, that he'd be there for her. But then the more she thought about it she'd convinced herself that he was only saying those things to calm her down.

That he was just trying to stop her killing herself.

After all she'd tried to call him a few times from her inpatient treatment place, but he'd never once answered the phone or returned any of her calls. Even when she'd called to let him know the day she was coming home.

Secretly, she hoped when she got home he'd be there to greet her with some explanation as to why he wouldn't talk to her, but she reminded herself not to get her hopes up.

With those thoughts and her stomach in knots she opened her eyes to see they were just a few miles outside of town, and she knew whether she was ready or not –it was time to jump back into her old life.

**~()~**

in what seemed like no time at all, Isaac pulled the car into Avery's driveway and turned the car off. The two girls sat silently, both had different things on their minds, both had things to be nervous and scared about, but they both knew it was time to leave the safety of the car and get back to their lives. Their time away was officially over.

Without a word, Isaac opened the driver side door and stepped out, then he walked over to the other side, opening the passenger side door and back door for both Teagan and Avery.

When both girls lifted their head to look at him, he shot them a smile, as he said, "We're home."

As Avery slowly stood up from her seat, Isaac turned to Teagan, holding out to his hand to help her out. The three walked to the back of the car, each grabbing one of Avery's bags from the back, then began to make their way toward the front door of the Dukate house.

Teagan kept an eye on Avery as they got closer to the door, wanting to make sure she was okay with returning home. She glanced over her shoulder, looking at Isaac and knew he was listening to Avery's heartbeat. He nodded his head at her, letting her know that the blonde was okay. He could tell Avery was a little anxious and nervous but other than that she was fine.

Avery opened the door and walked inside, with Teagan and Isaac walking in behind her. She glanced around the foyer, everything seemed the same but also seemed different. Or maybe it was her, maybe she was what was different which made everything in her house seem different. It was almost like looking at everything with a fresh set of eyes.

She quickly glanced down when she heard a small meow; followed by something rubbing against her leg. A wide smile appeared on her face, as she sat her bag down and reached down to pick up her black cat.

"Annabel! You just keep getting bigger and bigger." Avery stated, as she hugged her cat.

"She has gotten big." Teagan added, as she pet the cat on top of her head. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was surprised when another animal ran over to the small group.

"Aspen?" Teagan questioned, as her white husky dog ran over to her. She dropped the bag in her hand as she dropped down to her knees in front of the dog, giving him a big hug. She giggled as he began to lick her cheek, happy to see her. "What are you doing here, boy? Huh? How did you get here?" She questioned, as she petting him on top of the head.

"There's someone out back." Isaac said to the girls, as he sat the bag down beside the others.

Avery felt her eyes widen for a moment as she wondered if maybe Derek was there, waiting for her just like he promised he would be.

Isaac reached out to grab Teagan's hand, as the two; along with Avery and the animals, walked toward the backyard to see the girls' fathers, Richard and Paul, standing around the grill talking and laughing.

"Dad?" Teagan said, surprised to see her father there. Earlier when she spoke to him he said he was at work and would see her once she got home.

"Hey, Sweet Tea. Surprise!" Paul said with a smile, as he walked over to his daughter, hugging her tight.

"What's going on?" Avery questioned, as she looked over at her father. Her eyes jumped around, hoping there would be someone else by the grill for her, but was disappointed to see that Derek wasn't there. She didn't know why she even thought he would be. Not after all the times she called him with no luck.

"We thought we would surprise you all with a nice meal." Richard answered. "Kind of like a welcome home bash."

"You didn't tell anyone I was here thought, right?" Avery asked with a worried look. She just needed another day or two before she felt like she was ready to face everyone else. Right now all she needed was the ones that were already there and Derek, who unfortunately wasn't there like he promised.

"No, no, we just figured this would be between all of us. A family meal." Richard explained, as he walked over to her. He placed his hands on her shoulders, as he looked her over, with a smile on his face at seeing how much better she looked. "It's good to have you home, Avery." He stated, as he lightly touched her cheek, before pulling her toward him to hug her.

"It's good to have you home too." Paul added, as he threw an arm around his daughter's shoulders and pulled her toward him. He looked over at Isaac before holding out his other hand to shake his hand, as he continued, "You too, Isaac. It's good to have you all home."

"Thanks." Isaac said back, as he smiled at the older man; happy that he was finally accepting him again.

"I hope you all are hungry." Richard stated, as he nodded over toward the grill. "Food should be ready soon."

"Please tell me you didn't cook. We all know the only thing you can do is order food." Avery pointed out, as she looked over at her dad with raised eyebrows, causing everyone to laugh. They all knew her comment was true.

"You can all rest easy." Richard said, as he held up his hands in surrender. He pointed over toward Paul, as he added, "He cooked and I mostly just stood here. I didn't touch anything."

"So what are we having?" Isaac questioned, as he nodded his head over toward the grill. From the smells hitting his nose he had an idea what it was, but thought he would ask to be sure.

"Please say it's your famous barbecue chicken. I've been craving your chicken." Teagan stated, as she looked up at her dad; who smiled at her and nodded his head.

"Oh my God! I love your barbecue chicken." Avery added dramatically.

"I have heard nothing but great things about your barbecue chicken." Isaac said, as he looked over at Paul. "While we were gone, me and Teagan found this cute little barbecue place."

"Oh yeah! The one near that old shopping center." Teagan added, as she thought back to that day. It was one of the last good days they had before everything changed, before she had to start keeping a huge secret from him that could ruin everything.

Isaac lowered his eyebrows in confusion when he saw her face fall and had no idea why that memory would upset her. In his opinion that was a good day, every day with her while they were gone was a good day; even toward the end when she picking arguments with him over every little thing, snapping at him for no reason and shutting him out. He just assumed she was nervous about coming home and didn't want to push her, but even with all of that, he thought the trip was good for her; for them.

Realizing the others were waiting on him to finish the story, he cleared his throat then continued, "Yeah, that place. Anyways, we went there one day and their food was good, some of the best I have had, but she said the best barbecue chicken she ever had was her dad's. So I'm pretty excited to try it."

"Thanks, Sweet Tea." Paul said, as he kissed the top of her head.

"You'll like it." Teagan softly said, as she looked over at Isaac with a small smile on her face, but her mind was somewhere else.

"Well, while you all finish that up, I'm gonna take my bags to my room." Avery announced. She looked over at her best friend, as she stated, "Teagan, come help me."

"Hmm?" Teagan said, lost in her own thoughts again. When she saw Avery shooting her a look, she nodded her head, then said, "Oh, okay, yeah. Let's uh, let's grab your bags."

The two girls went back into the house and to the foyer, where Avery's bags were sitting. With bags in their hands, they made their way upstairs and into Avery's bedroom to put them down.

"Is it just me or does your room look different?" Teagan questioned, as she glanced around the bedroom.

"We'll deal with my Lydia-inspired room later." Avery stated, knowing their red head friend had to be the one to remodel it. "But that is not what is important right now. Teagan, you have to talk to Isaac. You can't keep this from him."

"I told you, Avery. I can't." Teagan stated. She pulled the hair tie from her hair, then nervously ran her hand through her brunette hair, as she added, "At least not yet."

"Well he's going to find out soon anyways, T." Avery argued. "For one; you're a terrible liar. And two; he knows you, Teagan. That boy can read you like a book and will know something is wrong if you don't tell him soon."

When she didn't say anything, Avery continued, "I mean, just a minute ago all it took was him bringing up something from your trip and you completely changed. You could tell something was wrong with you, that something was bothering you and he saw it too. What are you doing to do once he started asking questions? It's not like you can avoid him or anything."

"I know, okay? I know!" Teagan snapped, as she pulled her hair back up in frustration. She knew Avery was right, she knew she needed to tell him, but she was too scared of what his reaction would be.

Once she told him, it would change everything and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that yet. She just wanted to pretend everything was the same and nothing was wrong.

"Teagan..." Avery began to say, as she rested her hand on her hip. But before she could say another word, there was a knock at the bedroom door, before it was pushed open and Isaac walked in with another bag.

Avery looked over at Teagan, seeing the worried look on her face, as they both wondered how much he overheard from their talk.

"You forgot a bag in the car." Isaac said, as he sat the bag down. As both girls continued to look at him, he lowered his eyebrows, as he asked, "What? What's going on?"

Avery looked back over at Teagan, with raised eyebrows, wondering if she was going to say something to him, but when she didn't. She rolled her eyes, then looked back over at Isaac, as she said, "Nothing. Just girl talk."

"Is that all?" He asked, as he looked over at his girlfriend.

Teagan cleared her throat and flashed him a small smile, as she nodded her head, and said, "Yeah. Like she said, girl talk."

Isaac nodded his head at her answer, but knew there was more to it than that. She had been acting weird for the last week and he had hoped after they got back home, she would be back to her old self, but so far that wasn't happening. After all they had been through, he would hate it if she was keeping something from him again.

"Well, I'm going to go check on the food. See you two soon." Avery stated with a clap of her hands, before she walked past Isaac to get to the bedroom door.

"Avery..." Teagan hissed, knowing what she was doing.

"Talk to him." Avery mouth to her, as she pointed to Isaac's back.

Teagan shot her a dirty look, which she ignored and instead shot her a wink back before she walked out of the room, leaving the couple alone in the bedroom.

"Teagan..."

"We should get downstairs too." She said, interrupting him before he could ask anything. But as she tried to walk past him, he reached out to grab her arm, bringing her to a stop.

"Hey, look at me." Isaac softly said. He waited a moment until she finally raised her head to look at him. "If there is something going on, you can tell me. Whatever it is, we can get through it. Look at everything we have been through, nothing can stop us, okay? It's you and me, remember?"

"I know..." Teagan whispered, as she lowered her head, tears filling her eyes. She closed her eyes for a moment, getting her emotions under control and then lifted her head to look at him. "It's just... I uh, I just..."

"What?" Isaac asked, when she paused. He softly caressed her cheek, as he whispered, "Talk to me."

"I'm-I'm just tired. It was a long drive and coming home is just... It took a lot out of me." She said, as she avoided his eyes. She took a deep breath, then finally looked over at him to flash him a smile, as she wrapped her arms around his neck then leaned forward for a tender kiss. She moved her hands to the side of his face, holding on to him as she deepened the kiss, a part of her never wanting to stop kissing him.

She rested her forehead against his, as she blew out a breath, then said, "I'm okay. I just need some sleep or something."

"You sure?" Isaac questioned, as he rested his hands on her hips. When she nodded her head, he moved his arms to wrap them around her waist and pulled her toward him. He ran a hand up her back, cradling the back of her head, as he held her close to him, before whispering out,"I love you."

"I love you too." Teagan said back, as she ran her fingers through the hair at the back of his head. "I love you so much, Isaac." She whispered, as she closed her eyes, hoping the secret didn't tear them apart.

**~(The next day)~**

"Out of all the places we could go eat…" Teagan teased as she pulled into the familiar gravel parking lot.

"Yes! I need some comfort food, I lived off of fresh fruit at the treatment facility." Avery said with a laughed as she pulled her bottle of perfume from her purse and spritzed herself.

"Oh yeah, your own private room with 4 healthy meals a day just sounds like torture." Teagan joked as the girls got out of the car and started toward the door.

Checking her phone and the sliding it back into the pocket of her jeans, Avery said, "When I just want some homemade food, yeah pretty much."

The best friends started for the door of Pammy's before Avery came to a stop and breathed out, "Is that..." Avery whispered her eyes wide as she stared past Teagan.

Looking over her shoulder she saw two men sitting on the bench lining the park, one she immediately recognized as the one Avery often gave food too, but it took a few moments for her to realize the other guy was Deputy Parrish.

"Go talk to him." Teagan urged as she slowly turned back around to look at Avery who smiled but gave a small shrug as she reasoned, "Maybe I'm just not ready to talk to anyone else… especially him…" Her mind drifted back to the night she'd been at his house and just kept throwing herself at him like some kind of desperate crazy person.

With an empathetic laugh, Teagan looked back and saw the deputy was standing up and she whispered, "Well… you might not have a choice."

"Shit…" Avery breathed flashing him a smile as he started their way and waved at them.

"Maybe he's in a hurry and can't stand around and talk?" Teagan offered speaking through a smile of her own.

"He's headed right towards us." Avery argued.

"You're home already?" He asked coming to a stop directly in front of the blonde before nodding a friendly greeting to Teagan.

"Yeah." Avery smiled as she shifted awkwardly and tried to avoid his eyes.

Looking between them Teagan blew out a breath as she excused herself from the conversation to leave them alone, "Well… I'm going to go in and save us a table, you know how the lunch time rush is…"

Her voice trailed off as Deputy Parrish glanced at the nearly empty parking lot and then back to her with a confused expression.

Avery held back a laugh at her friend's expense as Teagan smiled nervously at being caught in a lie and quickly turned to dart in the building.

Once she was gone, Parrish asked, "How are you?"

"Better." She said a tight smile, hating that he'd seen her at her absolute lowest point as she continued, "Much better. How about you? How have you been?"

"Good." He answered with a friendly smile, then added, "It's really good to see you."

He watched as she looked down to the ground and adjusted her stance on the gravel beneath her designer shoes and he started to ask if she was alright, but before he could she finally raised her head and said, "Just so you know… that night at your house, I, uh…I think I recall at some point not really taking no for an answer and kind of throwing myself at you…"

With a slight nod he agreed, "I recall that too."

Sighing she continued, "I just wanted to make sure you know that –that's not really me, I was just-"

Cutting her off he quickly said, "No need to explain, it's okay. I know you were in a bad place and I never once thought that was really you."

She smiled appreciatively and looked up to his bright green eyes and a small, but sad smile fell over her lips as she remembered all of the time they'd spent together and the way it felt when he'd kissed her. But things were different now, she'd spent her time away doing so much thinking and she was starting to realize deeply she still cared about Derek –to the point where she didn't think she could move past it to be in a relationship. But it still didn't stop the small ache in her chest as he smiled at her,

"Well, I should get in there… Teagan's probably already ordered for us both." She excused as she turned to start to walk away, but he stayed in place with a feeling that the conversation wasn't over. Pausing at the door she turned looked at him.

"This…" She said in a slightly defeated tone a she motioned between them, "It wouldn't have worked, right? I mean there's the whole age thing you kept bringing up… and the illegal thing…"

His eyes moved back and forth searching her face as he offered a somber and weak smile, agreeing with her reasoning, "There is the whole you being a minor and me being a deputy thing, yeah."

"Right." She agreed with a saddened expression as she continued, "And there's the whole you being too much of a boy scout to go there and break the law thing…"

He ran his tongue over his lips before pulling in a deep breath and pointing out, "And the whole you and Derek thing…"

Her eyebrows knotted with a slight look of pain and somehow she managed to find her words as she said, "I'm sorry… I just, I think I thought things were over with me and him, or maybe it just hurt less to believe it… I don't know."

Holding up his hands to silence her he offered a smile to try and make her feel better as he said, "It's okay, I saw you guys together that day… I get it."

"Yeah, but…"

"The guy sliced his own hand open to get the razor blade away from so you couldn't hurt yourself anymore." He paused remembering the moment vividly in his mind as he continued, "He got through to you when I couldn't, it's okay."

She glanced down to the gravel parking lot and held her breath for a minute before she looked up and asked, "I'll still see you around, right?" Even if she couldn't care about him the same way she felt about Derek she didn't want to completely lose Parrish either.

"Yeah, of course." He assured her.

She smiled and nodded, hoping he was telling her the truth because she didn't think she handle losing anyone else she cared about and he'd quickly became one of the few people she trusted.

Trying to smile through the sadness of the moment she flashed him a smile as she said, "Till next time, Deputy Parrish."

Returning the smile he added, "Have a good day, Miss Dukate."

She turned to head back inside but then stopped as she spun around and raced back towards him, wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, not needing to use her words let him know how much she appreciated him being there for her and that he did mean a lot to her. Immediately, she felt his arms fold around her, holding her in a tight, protective hug that almost instantly made her safe and warm.

**~()~**

"Teagan!" Avery exclaimed as she quickly located her friend's table to see the table top covered in small servings of almost every breakfast food on the menu.

With an innocent smiled Teagan pointed out, "This is not my fault… you left me alone with the breakfast menu, and you know how good the food is here!"

Avery laughed and shook her head, taking a drink of the water that Teagan had ordered for her.

Teagan took another bite of her syrup drenched pancakes and started to stick her fork through a waffle, but Avery grabbed her own fork and quickly stole it off the plate before Teagan could have it.

The brunette looked at her friend with wide eyes and Avery said, "Don't give me that pouty face… you've got pancakes."

"Yeah, but I wanted the waffles too."

Avery laughed and shook her head as she got to work on cutting her food up before saying, "How the hell does Isaac deal with you during breakfast? You are the worst person to eat with, I swear..."

Teagan shrugged her shoulders, as she quickly stuck some food in her mouth, her face turning a little red as she thought about several of hers and Isaac's mornings together. What would start with him cooking her breakfast would often turn into syrupy, sexy, fun.

"Wait a minute..." Avery said, as she looked at her best friend closely, recognizing the look on her face. She pointed her fork at her, a proud smile on her face, as she said, "You two get freaky with the breakfast food, don't you?"

Teagan coughed, the food choking her. She reached out to grab her drink, taking a sip, as she opened her mouth to try to deny it, but before she could say anything, Avery let out a chuckle, as she slapped the table, then said,"I knew it! I always knew Isaac was a kink master."

"Oh God." Teagan mumbled, as she covered her face with her hands. "I thought we decided you weren't saying that anymore." She added, as she removed her hands.

"You decided that but there is nothing wrong with being a kink master." Avery pointed out. She shot her a smile, as she added, "Say it loud and proud girl. My man is a kink master!"

"I would rather not." Teagan said with a chuckle, as she glanced down at the food in front of her. She stabbed another piece of pancake with her fork, than while Avery was busy laughing, she reached out to steal a piece of her waffle.

"Don't think I didn't see that, T." Avery said, as she pointed her fork at her, shooting her a playfully mean look before she smiled at her.

Teagan smiled back, taking another bite of food. She took a sip of her drink, swallowing the food, then stated, "So… you were out there for a while."

"Yeah, I had few things I needed to clear up." She vaguely answered.

But when Teagan continued to stare at her, Avery sighed, "What?"

After another bite of pancakes, Teagan asked, "What else did you talk about?"

"Why are you giving me the third degree, T?"

Laying her fork down on her plate, Teagan got a drink before she said, "Because for one I'm your best friend, and also because I've seen you guys together… I know you like him."

Avery pulled in a deep breath as she looked down, causing Teagan's smile to fall as she asked, "What…"

"I'm not eighteen yet… and he's a cop, so it's not like we could go there." She simply stated, but as Teagan started to argue she continued, "He made it clear we can't go there."

"It wouldn't work anyways…" The blonde mumbled under her breath, as she shoved a bite of waffle into her mouth.

Teagan made a face, thinking it sounded more like Avery was trying to convince herself of that more than anyone else.

"He pulled you back, you know? Remember… at the animal clinic, he's the one who brought you back, A. I don't care what the law says…" Her voice trailed off as she saw her friend trying to inconspicuously check her phone for about the hundredth time that day.

"Who are you waiting to hear from?" The brunette exclaimed, frustrated.

Tucking her phone back in her pocket she ran her hands through the hair and admitted, "I tried to call Derek from the treatment place."

"Yeah, and he didn't answer… or even try to call back. A, you even told him he could call Isaac back when he got your message since you couldn't have incoming phone calls there, and he never once called or sent a text." She pointed out.

Avery nodded, "Yeah, but I tried to call him again… not too long before we left Long Beach to let him know I was coming back and I just –I just thought he might want to be there when I got home, but I guess not."

Teagan frowned, she hated seeing her best friend upset and hated knowing Derek was the one who'd caused it. Then her forehead lined as she realized, "Wait… that's what's really going on isn't it? Yeah, Parrish might be a cop and you're a minor, but this is about Derek!"

"He's not a bad guy, T." Avery sighed then shook her head as she said, "Anyways, he's probably just busy or something right now."

As much as Teagan hated knowing Derek was upsetting and breaking her best friend's heart all over again, she hated seeing Avery looking like she was in pain again, so she swallowed hard and said, "I bet he is busy with some… werewolf thing."

Trying to casually bring it up Teagan said, "So, uh… what's made you so interested in Derek again all of a sudden."

Pushing her plate away from her she admitted, "It's not some sudden interest… it's just, I don't know. The night that I lost it and hurt myself, he told me he still loved me."

Teagan's jaw almost dropped at the newly learned information and Avery shifted in her seat as her friend said, "So he takes off for South America and never once checks in, then he gets back to town and he was a total dick to you then he just shows back up and says that?"

Avery gave a weak shrug thinking that pretty much summed up the past months.

Teagan looked down to her pancakes unable to eat either as she thought of how leaving town was one of the only decent things Derek did for Avery, but then he showed back up and while she knew he wasn't to blame for all of Avery's problems –she could put two and two together, and every single time he worked his way back into her best friend's world something bad always happened.

And it had only been two months since Avery's suicide attempt, all Teagan could think was that having Derek back in her life would set her back and she might lose her.

"Maybe I should try going to see him?" Avery thought out loud.

Blowing out an irritation laced breath Teagan carefully said, "Are you sure that's a good idea, I mean you just got home… and like you said he's probably really busy."

"You just don't want me to see him." Avery accused with a knowing look.

Picking up her glass and taking a long drink as she thought of to word her response, she finally sat the glass down with a clink on the wood table and said, "I want what's best for you, A. And I know you're doing better than when we left for Long Beach, and I'm so incredibly proud of you… but I'm worried that getting close to him again could set you back and that scares the hell out of me."

Avery nodded in agreement but didn't say anything for a few moments before she finally raised her head and asked, "You going to talk to Isaac soon?"

"Are you still hungry? We could hit that new frozen yogurt shop for desert!" Teagan quickly said, avoiding her best friend's questions.

"Oh, so we can talk about what's good for me… but talking about you doing the right thing is off limits?" The blond asked with an arched brow.

"Can we please not do this?" Teagan whispered as she glanced around as if people were there trying to listen in on their conversation.

"You know you're going to have to talk to Isaac, you can't keep this secret forever." Avery stated as she stood up and grabbed her purse before heading over to the counter to pay for their breakfast.

Teagan placed her elbows on the table and rest her head in her hands as her stomach jumped from nerves and anxiety. She'd already had enough on her plate to worry about with needing to talk to Isaac, but now she was worried about Avery getting close to Derek and him breaking her heart yet again.

This was supposed to be a fresh start for them all, the door was sealed shut in her mind. She'd had an amazing couple of months away with her boyfriend and Avery had gotten the help she needed. Coming back was supposed to be a good thing, a chance to see their friends again and get back into their daily lives. But now it already felt like everything was falling apart.

"Ready?" Avery asked as she paused next to the table.

Quickly pulling herself together Teagan stood up and nodded, "Yeah, I still vote we get frozen yogurt or ice cream, or something."

Avery laughed and linked arms with her as they headed for the exit and Teagan smiled too, trying to keep her hope alive. She had to hope that even when Isaac found out what she'd been hiding, that they could work through it. She had to keep hoping that Avery was really well enough to come home and that a certain tall, dark werewolf with anger problems and a habit of breaking her friend's heart would undo months of intense therapy. Because any other outcome would be unacceptable, losing Isaac or Avery would be unbearable… so she had to do what Isaac always did, hold onto hope and believe that somehow they'd figure it out and everything would be okay.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading! We're so excited to finally be posting this story and sharing it with all of you! **

**On my profile are the links to several videos to go along with The Blue Moon series, including our official season 4 video and the newest video is a Teagan/Isaac video by Miss E Charlotte, which I highly recommend because she's amazing at videos! ^_^**

**I hope you guys all liked the chapter. We'd really appreciate it if you'd take a few moments to leave a review and let us know that you've read the chapter.**


	2. Hold Onto Hope, Love

**Chapter Two – Hold Onto Hope, Love**

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><p>Hearing the door bell ring, Paul made his way to the front door to open it and smiled at Isaac; who was on the other side. He gestured for him to come inside, then shut the door once he was in.<p>

"Hey, thanks for making it." Paul said, as he held out his hand to shake Isaac's hand.

"Thanks for inviting me." Isaac said with a smile, as he followed the older man into the kitchen; where he was preparing dinner.

"Barbecue chicken again?" He asked, when he recognized the smell.

"Yeah, it was such a big hit the other night I figured why not." Paul answered, as he checked on the mashed potatoes he was making to go along with the chicken. "Besides Teagan loves it and I thought maybe it could help get her settled back in. Get use to being back at home." He added.

"Where is Teagan?" Isaac questioned, as he glanced around, surprised she wasn't in the kitchen with her father or didn't come to the door when he showed up.

"In her room." Paul answered.

"Is everything okay?" Isaac asked, when he saw the look on Paul's face.

"I was actually going to ask you that." Paul stated. "Does she seem okay to you? I mean while you two were gone, how did she act?" He asked.

"She was fine. There were some bad days here and there, when she had a nightmare about everything or was missing Allison or worried about Avery, but other than that she was happy and full of life. She was Teagan." Isaac answered with a smile on his face, as he thought back to the first few weeks when they were away.

The two had a lot of fun while they were gone. They saw movies, they explored the town, they even went to the beach one day; and the whole time she had a huge grin on her face.

With out all the drama surrounding them and the constant threat on their lives, they were able to be a normal couple. Just a regular boy and a regular girl in love. She was a lot like the Teagan he befriended when she first moved back to town, before his world dragged her down, but then one day all of that changed.

He remembered it was about a week ago, she seemed stressed and distracted, then told him she was going for a walk. He offered to go with her, but she said she needed to be alone. She showed up a couple of hours later looking even more upset then when she left, but all she would tell him was it was a bad day and she needed to rest.

"But then?" Paul asked, when he saw Isaac's face fall while he was deep in thought.

"Then about a week ago, she changed." Isaac said. "I mean at times, she was still Teagan, but other times she was distracted and would bite my head off for every little thing. I think knowing she was coming back home soon, to all the memories, upset her."

"That's what I think too." Paul said. "But I must admit, I think I might have made things worst."

"How?" Isaac asked confused.

"I suggest that maybe she should talk to someone. A therapist." Paul said, before explaining,"I just don't want to see her keeping all of that in. With all the hallucinations she had, the stuff with Stiles and Avery, then losing Allison; that is a lot for a person to deal with at once."

"I agree." Isaac said with a nod. They all saw what happened to Avery after not dealing with all the tragedies in her life. The last thing he wanted to see was something similar to that happening to his girlfriend.

"Maybe you can talk to her?" Paul suggest. "Maybe if we're a united front, we can get her to agree to talk to someone."

"I'll try." Isaac said. He softly chuckled, as he added,"You know how stubborn she is."

Paul nodded his head with a laugh, as he said,"She's just like her mother."

"Yeah, I uh, I'm sure she is." Isaac nervously said, as he ran a hand through his hair. He was sure she was a lot like her mother, but he didn't know that version of her, he only knew the Lisa that had haunted Teagan for weeks. It wasn't her father's fault for making the comparison though, Teagan never told him about her mother haunting her.

"I'm gonna go talk to her now." He added, as he pointed behind him, toward where the stairs were.

"Okay. I'll let you two know when dinner is ready. Shouldn't be too much longer." Paul stated, as he went back to getting dinner together.

Isaac made his way out of the kitchen and went upstairs. He lightly knocked on the bedroom door, then pushed it open when he heard her quietly said 'come in'. He walked in to see her sitting in the middle of her bed; with Aspen sleeping beside her and a few photo albums laid out in front of her.

"Hey." Isaac said, as he walked closer to the bed.

"Hey." Teagan said back with a small smile on her face.

He sat down beside her, laying a hand on the side of her face, as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers for a gentle kiss. He lightly caressed her cheek, as he asked,"How's it going?"

"Good." Teagan answered.

"Yeah?" He questioned, wishing she would tell him whatever was bothering her. As she nodded her head, he let out a small sigh, realizing she wasn't going to say anything more. He glanced over at the books in front of her, as he asked,"What is all of this?"

"Family photo albums, my baby book, my parent's wedding album." Teagan explained, as she touched each book.

"Why do you have them?" Isaac questioned.

"I was thinking... I thought maybe I was ready." Teagan quietly said, as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I thought I was ready to see her. To look at her and see the old memories and help me forget the bad ones." She added, referring to her mother.

"You don't have to do this now, Teagan." Isaac said, as he reached out to grab her arm. He ran his hand down the arm until he made it to her hand to grab that. He gave it a squeeze, as he continued,"You're still healing, and that's okay. You don't have to rush it. It takes time."

"I'm just, I'm tired of being haunted by her." Teagan said. "For weeks, she was in my head, showing me horrible things and screaming at me; and now even though that is over, I can't stop thinking about it." She reached up with her free hand to wipe away a tear, then continued,"Before when I thought of my mom, it was the good memories, you know? Like birthdays, holidays, family trips." She pointed to the albums, as she listed things off.

"But now, it's all the bad things. Like that stupid phrase she said over and over again." She stated, as she placed her hands on either side of her head, remembering all the times her mother screamed 'tuer ou être tué'. "I honestly don't think I can ever forgot those words." She softly added.

"Maybe you should talk to someone." Isaac suggested, as he laid a hand on her knee, offering her some comfort.

Teagan scoffed, as she shook her head, then said,"Not you too." She blew out an annoyed breath, as she added,"Let me guess, you talked to dad."

"Teagan, you do need to talk to someone. Your mom haunted you for weeks. You just said yourself you can't imagine her as the way she was. You only think of the bad. Not to mention all the other things that happened. You need to talk about it."

"I have been. I've been talking to you. I opened up to you a lot while we were gone, remember?" Teagan pointed out, reminding him of all the long talks they had while they were out of town.

"Yeah, you did and I'm glad you did. I'll always be here for you to talk to. You can always tell me anything." Isaac stated.

"I know, and I want to talk to you." Teagan said. "So why can't I just talk to you instead of some stranger?"

"Okay." Isaac said, as he nodded his head. "Then talk to me now. What were you and Avery talking about the other day in her room? Things seemed kind of heated between you two."

"You were listening?" Teagan snapped, a cross between anger and worried that he over heard them.

"No, no I wasn't listening." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "I wouldn't invade your privacy like that, but I could feel the tension when I walked in and lately I..."

"You what?" Teagan questioned when he paused.

He laid a hand on the side of her neck, as he continued,"Lately I feel like there is something you're not telling me."

"Isaac, I..." Teagan began to say, as she lowered her head with a sigh. She nervously played with her hands; which were resting in her lap, as she tried to gain the courage to tell him, but before she could say another word, they heard her father call out for them, telling them dinner was ready.

Isaac kept his eyes on her, waiting for her to open up to him. Finally tell him what was bothering her. In his opinion food can wait.

"What were you going to say?" He questioned, but it was like he could see her shutting down right in front of him.

"I was just going to say, I'm sorry. For any of the times I snapped at you, but everything is okay. Still just dealing with things, you know?" She said.

Isaac nodded, feeling like there was more, but knew there was no reason to keep pushing the issue. It was true that she was still dealing with everything that happened and he didn't want to make it worst by arguing with her. Besides what if he was wrong? What if there wasn't something else and he upset her for no reason.

"Well, I guess we should go down and eat." He softly said, as he stood up from the bed. "Your dad made barbecue chicken again."

"I'm not in the mood for that tonight." She said, as she leaned back against the bed frame; wrapping her arms around herself again.

"I thought it was your favorite." Isaac stated. He let out a chuckle, as he added,"Well one of your favorites."

"It is, but I said I'm not in the mood for it tonight, okay?" She snapped, then quietly regretted her tone when she saw the look on his face.

"Okay. That's fine." Isaac said, as he held up his hands. He sighed, then ran a hand through his hair, as he added,"I'll tell your dad you're not hungry. And if you want something else I can go get it for you later, okay?"

Teagan nodded her head, as tears filled her eyes. She hated snapping at him. It wasn't his fault that she was stressed, that she wasn't being completely honest with him and the secret was killing her.

"I'll uh, I'll leave you alone for now, but I'll be back in a little bit, okay?" He suggested, hoping some time alone would do her some good. He was worried between himself and Paul pushing her to get help it had upset her.

Without another word, he walked out the door, leaving her alone like he said he would, but all she wanted was for him to come back. She didn't want to be alone, she wanted him to hold her and tell her no matter what everything would be okay.

She pulled her legs up and let out a shaky breath, as she ran her hands through her hair. She could still see the look on his face when she snapped at him. Even though she had been doing it a lot more lately, every time she did, he would look at her with a shocked expression; like he couldn't believe the way she was acting, and honestly she couldn't believe it either and she hated it. She also hated the hurt look on his face. She never wanted to hurt him, yet she was over and over again.

She glanced over at Aspen; who raised his head to look at her, like even he was disappointed in her actions. She reached out to pet him, as she whispered,"I know. I know what you're thinking. I'm the worst ever and I need to fix it before I lose him."

She gave the dog a pet on top of the head, then stood up from the bed, making her way down the stairs and into the kitchen; where her dad and Isaac were, as they were grabbing the food and getting ready to walk into the dining room.

"Hey, Sweet Tea. Isaac said you weren't hungry, is everything okay?" Paul said over at his daughter with a concern look on his face.

"Yeah, sorry, I thought I wasn't, but then I smelled your delicious chicken and realized I am hungry." Teagan said, as she flashed him a genuine smile.

"Okay, great, cause I made plenty." Paul stated, as he kissed the side of her head before grabbing a couple of plates of food.

Once he was out of the room, Isaac reached out to grab a plate, but before he could, she grabbed his arm to stop him. She turned him to face her, then laid her hands on his shoulders.

"Isaac, I'm so sorry, about before. I didn't mean to snap at you... again." Teagan said.

"You've been apologizing a lot lately." Isaac pointed out.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." She added, as she moved her hands across his shoulders and rested them on either side of his neck. "I'm so sorry." She said again, before leaning forward to press her lips against his, trying to show him how sorry she was.

"I've been so horrible to you lately and I know I don't deserve you being so sweet and understanding." She softly said, as she rested her forehead against his. "I'm the worst girlfriend ever."

"No, you're not." Isaac argued. He lightly caressed her cheek, as he said,"You've been through a lot, it's understandable your mood would be all over the place."

"See, there you go!" Teagan exclaimed with a smile. "Being so sweet and understanding again." She gave him another kiss, then leaned back to look at him, before joking,"I'm starting to think I'm not good enough for you, maybe you should just run far away from me."

"You know I would never run from you, babe." Isaac pointed out, as he smiled at her. He gave her a sweet kiss, before saying,"It's you and me, always."

"Always." Teagan said back happily, as she pulled his face toward her, pressing her lips against his again.

In moments like this, she could push everything aside; moments like this is when she had no doubt they would be okay, that they could make it through anything. It was moments like this that she wanted to hang on to for the rest of her life.

**~()~**

"What are you doing? I told you to get dressed." Richard said as he walked into his daughter's bedroom to see her sitting on the floor in her pajamas playing with her cat, Annabel Lee.

"I said I just wanted to order a pizza or something tonight." Avery reminded him with a small sigh.

Richard looked down to her open door seeing the busted wood on the door and heavily splintered wood frame from where Deputy Parrish had kicked the door in to get to her the night she'd locked herself in her room and tried to kill herself.

He closed his eyes for a moment swallowing hard as he quietly said, "I should have gotten the door replaced before you came back."

Looking over her shoulder she said, "The door is fine… you shouldn't have let Lydia in here while I was gone."

Letting out a laugh he admitted, "I came home from work she was already in the house, did you give her a key or something?"

Laughing Avery admitted, "Yeah… I gave keys to Teagan, Lydia and Allison…" Her voice trailed off and a look of pain fell over her face and tears burnt her eyes at the memory of her late friend.

Clearing his throat he tried to change the subject, "When Lydia called for an update on how you were doing, I mentioned that I still needed to get your room fixed up. I guess she thought she was better suited for it, she was here with two other girls, Kira and…" He glanced up to the ceiling trying to remember the other ones name.

"Malia?" Avery guessed.

"That's the one."

"Well, I knew Lydia was here since she taped pink paint swatches to the wall." She said nodding above her computer desk to the wall. "Not to mention how neatly my bed was made and the clothes neatly hung up in my closet and the pink bow on my new TV." Her other tv had gotten broken when she was lost in a hallucination and destroyed her entire room.

"Speaking of clothes… you need to change, it's almost time for dinner." He urged checking his watch.

Avery glanced back down to the floor as she said, "Sorry, I can't go out for dinner tonight… I have nothing to wear."

"You have closets and closets of clothes." He sighed as he crossed the room and opened up her closet stepping inside as he looked at the racks of clothes, most of them dark shades until his eyes stopped a light pink champagne color dress.

Pulling the hanger off the rack, he walked back out and said, "What about this one?"

Avery's face twisted with a look of horror as she jumped to her feet and said, "I swear to god if Lydia got rid of any of my clothes…"

Pushing past her dad she walked into the large closet and looked around, breathing a sigh of relief at seeing her clothes were still there –her friend had just added some light colors and girly styled clothes to mix.

Pulling a short, black revealing dress from a hanger she said, "I still don't know why we can't just order a pizza or something."

"Because you've been home for a couple days and besides going shopping with Teagan, you've been staying in pajamas and not leaving the house. And not one of your friends has been by, I'm guessing because no one else knows your home?" He questioned, pulling the hanger from her hands and pushing the simple, champagne color dress into her hands.

"You don't want to see them?" Richard pushed, with raised eyebrows.

Raising her own brows and matching his expression she answered, "Of course I do… just not yet."

Shaking his head at her he nodded to the dress in her hands and said, "Get dressed, hurry up."

"I'm sure as hell not wearing this dress." She said looking down to the one Lydia had put in her closet.

Her dad sighed at her as he turned and left her room.

After looking through her closet for a little while she found another dress she didn't recognize that Lydia must have put there but this one she loved; a simple black dress with a gray lace design over the bust area. She paired it some plain black heels, and left her hair laying in it's natural waves from her shower earlier that day.

She decided against going all out with her make-up perfect the dark smokey eye make-up she wore on a daily basis and instead she opted for just put on a light coat of eyeliner and a few layers of mascara, before heading for the stairs.

Pausing at the top she sent Derek a text letting him know that she was going out to dinner and let him know the time and the place. She quickly sent another text saying that she missed him and didn't understand why he wasn't getting back to her, but this was the last time she'd try to reach out to him.

Once she reached the front door her dad asked, "Where do you want to go?"

"Actually dad, I left Derek a message to meet me… so I'm just going to head out alone." She admitted to him.

He was silent for a moment before he asked, "Derek said he'd meet you there?"

"No… he's not been returning my calls but he told me he wasn't leaving me anymore. He promised he'd be here for me when I got back." She weakly admitted, her palms grew sweaty as she spoke. Pulling her purse up on her shoulder she wiped her hands on her dress.

"Avery…" Richard sighed rubbing a hand over his head, "What if Derek doesn't show up?"

"Why wouldn't he show up?" She asked him, trying to hide how much his showing up actually meant to her.

"I don't know. All I'm saying is it's been a couple months, there's a possibility that maybe he's not going to show up, Avery. I just don't want you getting hurt, especially after everything you've been through."

"He'll be there." She said trying to remain slightly hopeful before she said, "I let him know how important this is to me… so he'll be there."

"Avery…" Richard breathed, looking at his teenager daughter.

"And if he doesn't show… so what? At least I'll find out before I started to like the idea of him actually being around like he promised he'd be." She said with a confident smile, even though inside she didn't feel assured at all. Because she'd already fell in the love with the idea of him being there; she may have been to lost and broken the night he'd admitted it to her to say it back, but she still loved him –she'd never stopped.

**~()~**

After a nice dinner, Teagan and Isaac were back in her bedroom, the photo albums were still laid out in front of them on the bed. Isaac laid back against the headboard, while Teagan was laid out beside him, her head on his chest.

Isaac was running his fingers through her hair; he could tell by the way her heart was beating that she was relaxed and close to falling asleep. He saw her stretch her leg out and hit one of the photo albums.

He kissed the top of her head, as he asked,"You want me to put those up?"

"No, it's okay." Teagan said, as she sat up with a small yawn. She reached out to grab one of them, which happened to be her baby book. "Maybe-Maybe I'm ready to look at one now."

"Are you sure?" Isaac asked, as he sat up behind her. He kissed the side of her neck, then rested his chin on her shoulder, as he watched her hold the book in her hand, seeing that they were slightly shaking from nerves.

"I think so." She mumbled, as she slowly opened the cover.

She softly chuckled as she looked at the first picture; which was a picture of her right after she was born. She felt tears fill her eyes as her gaze fell on another picture, this one of her and her mother.

In the other picture her face was scrunched up and she was crying, but in the one with her mother, she was peacefully sleeping. She remembered her parents telling her, she was screaming and crying the second she was born. The nurses handed her to her father to help calm her with no luck, she kept screaming. But as soon as they laid her in her mother's arms, she went silent. She was instantly calm and went to sleep once she was with her mother.

It had always been that way. She loved her dad, of course, and was a bit of a daddy's girl. She would run to him often crying; if someone was mean to her, if she got hurt somehow while playing or was just having a bad day, but her mother was the one who could calm her down. She always had that effect on her, even the memory of her mother would calm her until recently; until she was haunted by her.

"She looks happy." Isaac stated, as he looked at the picture of her and mother, seeing the huge smile on Lisa's face.

"She was. I was all she ever wanted." Teagan said, as she lightly ran her finger on the picture. "My mom couldn't wait to be a mother. She was one of those people who had tons of baby dolls when she was young and would say when she grows up she's going to be a mother. She always wanted tons of kids and to be a mother as soon as possible."

"That's crazy." Isaac said with a chuckle, as he looked over at the pictures on the other page.

"Hmm?" Teagan questioned. as she glanced over her shoulder to look at him.

"To want that many kids and so soon." Isaac said, explaining his earlier comment.

"Right, crazy." Teagan breathed out, as she turned back to look at the pictures before turning the page to more.

"Why didn't she have more?" Isaac questioned. When she turned her head to look at him again, he added,"Don't get me wrong, your parents had the perfect first child." He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his chest. He kissed her cheek, causing her to smile, before he continued,"I just mean, if she wanted so many, why didn't your parents have more?"

"She couldn't." Teagan answered. "It took them years to finally have me. They were close to just giving up and adopting or something until she got pregnant with me. I was the miracle baby, but she always said she wouldn't have it any other way. She always said she ended up with the sweetest baby in the world; her sweet girl."

She didn't even realize she was crying until she felt Isaac wiping the tears from her cheeks. She turned her head to look at him again, giving him a small smile to thank him, then turned back to look at the pictures, her eyes falling on another picture of her and Lisa.

In that one she was a little over a year old or about to turn one. Her mother was sitting on a couch, while she was standing up on her lap and Lisa was holding her hands to keep her up. The two were staring at each other and laughing out loud about something. But what she noticed was the love between them. The love in her mother's eyes that she never saw while being haunted by her.

She laid her fingers on the picture, keeping her eyes on the baby version of herself, then looked over at her mother with tears in her eyes. She sniffed then quickly closed the book and sat it aside.

"Hey, it's okay. You looked at two pages, that's good, babe." Isaac pointed out, as he gave her cheek a tender kiss. "That's progress." He knew it couldn't have been easy to look at those pictures, even a few, but she did it.

He turned her face to look at him, as he added,"You can look at more another day. You don't have to do it all at once, okay?"

Teagan gave him a small smile as she nodded her head.

"Come here." He softly said, as he pulling her toward him, giving her a sweet kiss. He laid his hands on either side of her face, telling her how proud he was of her, then gave her another kiss, before leaning back against the headboard again, pulling her to lay down with him.

She rested her head on his chest, as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She closed her eyes, feeling tears roll down her cheek. She knew it would be hard to look at her baby pictures with her mom, but didn't think it would be this hard.

"It's going to be okay." Isaac softly said, as he ran his fingers through her hair. He had to believe in time it would get easier and easier for her to look at pictures and be able to remember the good things about her mother, but either way he would be right by her side helping her with whatever she needed. He would be there no matter what.

**~()~**

"You ready to order yet?" The waitress asked as she walked back over to the table Avery was sitting at still waiting on Derek to show up.

"No…" Avery breathed as she raised her glass of ice water to her lips and glanced down to her still blank phone and shook her head.

The waitress bit down on the inside of her cheek for a moment before she leaned down and softly pointed out, "Are you sure your date is coming?"

"He'll be here." Avery stubbornly said, causing her waitress to point out, "You've been here for almost two hours… I'm technically not even supposed to let someone sit that long when they haven't ordered food but I just felt…"

Her voice trailed off and Avery snapped her gaze to the side as she finished, "What? Feel sorry for me because you think I've been stood up or something?"

The waitress didn't say anything as she stared down to her order notepad in her hand and shifted uncomfortably on the floor before she blew out a heavy breath and opened her mouth to say something but Avery spoke up as she said, "It doesn't matter if I order food or not, either way you're gonna get your tip… so just leave me alone."

Dropping her arms to the side in frustration she turned and hurried away from the table.

Avery looked out of the large clear windows next to the booth she was sitting in as she watched the wind blowing some leaves across the parking lot and she closed her eyes, trying to tell herself that it was okay. That she knew he wasn't really going to show, but the truth was she'd actually let herself believe he'd be there. She'd believed him and now she felt like an idiot, sitting alone in a restaurant for hours on end waiting on someone who apparently really didn't care enough to show up for her.

She wanted to get up, just walk away from there and try and clear her head the last thing she wanted to do was be arguing with a waitress to keep a table she didn't even want to be at. But the gravity of it all was starting to set in and she didn't think she even had the strength to stand up.

Avery watched couples and families walking past her table, or eating their dinner around her –all of them talking and laughing. And there she was with a half empty glass of ice water that had turned to just water in front of her on the table.

Her eyebrows lowered as she saw someone she didn't expect walking towards her table.

"Dad?" She asked as he got closer she continued, "What are you doing here?"

Sitting down in the seat of the booth beside her he said, "I didn't want you to be here alone…"

She looked over at him as she gave a small shrug, then looked down to the table and said, "I just don't understand… he said he wasn't leaving me again."

Her chin quivered and she tried to hold back her tears but a few slowly made their way down her cheek as she continued, "He said he still loved me." Taking a deep breath, her voice started to crack as she continued, "Why… why would he say that if he didn't mean it?"

Reaching his arm over, her dad pulled her against his side as she started to cry and he admitted, "I don't know, Avery. I wish I had an answer… or something that could make you feel better, but I really don't."

She angrily wiped the tears from her cheeks before laying her head down on his shoulder as more tears made their way down her face.

**~()~**

A few hours later, Avery sat on her bed in her room staring down to one of the few pictures she had of herself and Derek. She'd believed what he told her, believed that somehow everything that had happened he could still be in love with her because she still loved him. But he'd either left again or just wasn't bothering to return her calls and texts, either way it didn't matter because you didn't do either of those to someone you love

Opening up the small drawer on her nightstand she dropped the picture in and slammed it shut, taking in a few deep breaths, trying to keep from breaking down again. During her time away and in all of the therapy hours she'd logged, she'd been learning to feel again. It sounded strange, someone having to learn to feel again but after years of pushing every emotion down she'd lived in a state of numbness and it destroyed her.

Another tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away, reminding herself that it was okay to feel pain and be heartbroken; that she didn't have to be strong all of the time.

Lying down in her bed she stared at her phone, sending out a mass text to everyone letting them know she was finally home, but she wanted a few days to adjust to be home before anyone started coming by.

Silencing her phone she laid it face down on the nightstand and reached up shutting her lamp off, before she flipped over on her side to face the wall, a part of her was really starting to wonder if she was ready to come home when she did. After all, if she'd known this was going to happen she might have never left Long Beach in the first place.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- We both really hoped you liked the chapter!**

**The link to the last video we've made to accompany this story so far is now posted on my profile! It's the 'cast video' made by my amazing collab partner Miss E Charlotte! Also, if any of you had trouble watching the Teagan/Isaac video I mentioned last chapter –I'm not sure what was going on with youtube but whatever the problem was it seems to be resolved now. ^_^**


	3. Something is Wrong

**Chapter Three – Something is Wrong**

* * *

><p>An uneasy feeling rose in Avery's stomach as she stepped off the elevator and started towards Derek's loft. It had been a while since she'd texted all of her friends to let them know she was back in town, everyone had responded back. Everyone –except Derek.<p>

At first she considered maybe he was busy, but then when he hadn't bothered to show up to dinner the night before her sadness was quickly turning to anger. When she'd woke up that morning she'd given Cora a call to catch up with her friend and see how she was doing, she learned that Cora hadn't heard anything from Derek in a while either. But that wasn't really that unusual, the siblings didn't talk on the phone much but they normally touched base at least one a month.

As she neared the door she slowed to a stop at seeing it was cracked.

"Derek?" She called out as she slowly placed a hand on the door, but when she didn't hear a response she pulled the door open in one fast movement, revealing his empty loft.

All of the furniture seemed in place, aside from the coffee table looking a little dustier than normal everything looked fine. Walking over to the wall she hit the button on the homemade alarm system to silence it.

Her eyebrows lowered and she slowly sat down on the couch, thinking he must have just been ignoring her. Pulling her phone from her pocket she called his number, frowning when the call went straight to voicemail again.

Clearing her throat before the tone she started to leave a message, "Derek, it's me… Avery. I, uh, I don't know if you're ignoring me or what's up, but I've been repeatedly calling you and right now I'm sitting in your loft feeling like a complete and total stalker. But I just… I don't know what to do, or if you're just avoiding me because you think I'm crazy? I mean, I know how bad I was that night…" Her voice trailed off as she saw something reflect light from under the edge of the bed across the room.

Ending the call she crossed the room and knelt down, picking up a gold bullet shell with a skull design on it. Her heart sank and she dropped the rest of the way to the floor using the flashlight on her cellphone to look under the bed revealing several more of the bullet casings.

She gathered them and quickly rushed into the kitchen where she found a metal storage container and dropped the bullets in to, before taking out her phone and texting Scott asking where he was. Moments later a text came back saying he was cleaning and getting ready to close up the animal clinic for the night, that Dr. Deaton had just left.

She told him to wait there and then let Lydia and Stiles know she needed them all to meet there, before dialing Teagan's number as she rushed out of the loft –metal container of bullets in hand.

**~()~**

That evening, Teagan walked down the hall with the photo albums in her hands, with Aspen following along behind her. The albums had been in her room since the night Isaac came over for dinner and she was able to look at a couple of pages. She had tried to look at more later, but couldn't do it. She needed more time.

She carried the albums into her father's room, which was where she had got them from. He kept boxes of her mother's stuff in his closet, as well as only family stuff that was too upsetting to look at when they packed up and moved back to Beacon Hills a year ago.

Once in the closet, she stood up on her tip toes and stretched up to grab one of the boxes from the top shelf. Her fingers barely grazed the bottom of the box, causing her to groan out in frustration.

She sat the albums aside, freeing up both of her hands, then jumped up to hit the bottom of the box, trying to move it closer to the edge and planned on catching it. Unfortunately as it began to fall it slipped out of her hands and crashed down to the floor, causing her to jump back and let out a small scream in surprise.

When Aspen let out a bark at the sudden loud noise, she stuck her head out of the closet to speak to him and calm him down. She was in the middle of talking to him when she heard the front door slam shut downstairs followed by Isaac yelling out for her as he ran up the stairs to find her.

"Isaac?" Teagan questioned, as she walked over to her father's bedroom door and stepped out in the hallway right as he did. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Isaac said back, as he tried to catch his breath. He walked closer to her, pulling her into his arms, as he said,"I was walking up on the porch when I heard a loud crash and Aspen barking his head off." He pulled back to look at her, pushing her hair out of her face, as he looked at her closely,"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Teagan said smiling. Out of everything they have been through, a box falling is what scares him half to death.

She softly chucked, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a sweet kiss, before saying,"Everything is fine. I knocked down a box."

"What happened?" Isaac asked.

"I was born short. That's what happened." Teagan joked, causing him to laugh.

"But I love how short you are." Isaac said back with a smile. He tapped the end of her, making her laugh, as he added,"You're so short I could just put you in my pocket or..."

"Or what?" Teagan questioned when he paused.

"Or just toss you over my shoulder." He answered with a grin.

"Isaac... don't. Don't do it." Teagan tried to warn him, as she took a few steps back from him and held up her hands.

She turned to run away from him, but he wrapped an arm around her waist to stop her before turning her back around and picked her up, tossing her over his shoulder like he told her he would.

Teagan squealed out in surprise as she began to laugh out loud and kick her legs. Isaac laughed along with her, as he patted her butt and said,"I'm going to drop you if you keep kicking like that."

"Don't you dare!" Teagan called out, before she playfully bit his back.

"Ow! Okay, that kind of hurt, but also kind of turned me on." Isaac joked, as he slapped her butt again. He listened in to the rest of the house, not hearing her father, but just to make sure, asked,"Where is your dad?"

"At work." Teagan answered.

"Good." Isaac said smiling, thinking of the things he wanted to do to her while they had the house to themselves.

"Whoa, no, none of that." Teagan stated, knowing what he was thinking about. As he tried to walk into her room, she grabbed on to the door frame to stop him, as she added,"I need to go clean up the mess I made in dad's closet first."

"Then sex?" Isaac questioned.

"Then sex." Teagan said with a laugh. "But you have to help me. You're tall and can reach the top shelf better than I can."

"Okay, fine. As long as there is sex afterwards." Isaac said, as he turned to head for her father's bedroom.

Teagan shook her head and laughed as he removed her from his shoulders and sat her feet back on the floor. "So basically I can get you to do anything if I promise sex afterwards?" She questioned.

Isaac pretended to think it over, before he nodded his head, and said,"Yeah, pretty much."

"You are such a guy." Teagan said, as she playfully slapped his stomach.

"Yeah, but you love me." Isaac pointed out, as he grabbed her hand to stop her from hitting him again. He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the back of it before letting it go.

"Sometimes I wonder why." Teagan joked, as she dramatically rolled her eyes.

"Do I need to throw you back on my shoulder?" Isaac joked back, as he reached out to grab her arm.

"No!" Teagan called out, as she tried to pull away from him, but he held on to her arm and pulled her toward him.

He laughed at her antics, as he placed his hands on either side of her face and pressed his lips against hers for a sweet kiss. He grinned against her lips before kissing her again, then pulled back, as he looked at her.

"What?" Teagan asked, when she saw the way he was looking at her.

He lightly stroked her cheek, as he shook his head and said,"Nothing. Just thinking that I love you."

"I love you too." Teagan said back, as she gave him another kiss.

Isaac laid a hand on the back of her head, intertwining his fingers in her hair, as he deepened the kiss. This was the type of things they did while they were away; the love, the laughter and the joking back and forth and he had missed it once she started to become distracted the past week.

He hoped this meant whatever was bothering her was now over, he hoped she was settled back in and started to heal again and they could get back to things like this. Moments when they could be a normal couple in love, moments when he couldn't keep his lips or hands off of her.

Even now he had a hard time stopping himself, as they continue to kiss. He ran a hand down her back, slipping it under her shirt to softly caress her skin.

"Hey... hey... sex comes after." Teagan pointed out, as she pulled back from him with a laugh. She knew if they didn't stop now they would both get carried away and never get the box put up.

"You're killing me." Isaac groaned, as he dropped his head.

"You'll live." Teagan joked, as she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the closet to help her.

For the next several minutes the two picked up all the things that fell out of the box that she knocked down. She tried not to look at the stuff much, since it was stuff that belonged to her mother, but when she came across a necklace, she let out a small chuckle as she picked it up and looked at it closely.

"What's that?" Isaac questioned, when he saw her looking at it.

"It's a necklace I made for my mom." Teagan said with a smile on her face. It was a cheap necklace, with a cheap gold chain, that had block letters on it that spelled out 'I Love You Mom'

"Oh, hey, here is another one." Isaac said, as he reached out to grabbed another one from the floor. This one had a cheap silver chain and the charm was a puzzle piece with a 'T' on it.

"Actually that one is mine." Teagan said, as she took the necklace from his hand. "I guess it got mixed up with mom's stuff."

She continued to look at the necklace, remembering when she made it. Avery and Lydia had one just like it with their first name initials on it. Isaac opened his mouth to ask her more about the necklace, but before he could, they heard her cell phone began to ring.

"Keep cleaning. I'll be right back." Teagan said, as she stood up to run to her room, where her phone was.

"Okay, but don't forget about the sex." Isaac called out.

"I could never forget the sex." Teagan yelled back with a laugh.

She walked over to the bedside table where her phone was sitting and smiled when she saw it was Avery calling her. She couldn't wait to tell her that she found her puzzle necklace and ask if she still had hers.

"Hey, A!" Teagan said happily, as she answered the phone.

"Hey, T." Avery said back.

Before either girl could say anything else, Isaac poked his head in the room, as he said,"Is that Avery? Tell her we are busy 'cleaning' and can't talk right now."

Teagan snorted at the comment, as she said,"Avery isn't stupid, Isaac. She knows what that means."

"Yeah, you two can play kinky house maid some other time. I need you two to come to the clinic."

"Why? What's going on?" Teagan asked, as she tried to push Isaac off of her while he was trying to kiss the side of her neck.

"I don't know exactly what happened, but I think.. I think someone took Derek." Avery answered, her voice thick with emotion.

"What?" Isaac asked in surprise, hearing what she said over the phone.

"Derek is missing." Avery stated.

**~()~**

"I'm glad you're here." Avery exclaimed as she walked into one of the exam rooms at the clinic to find Stiles, Lydia and Scott waiting on her.

"I'm glad you're back!" Lydia said as she crossed the room and wrapped her best friend in a hug before pulled back and saying, "Even if you're not in the new clothes I got for you!"

Avery let out a small sigh but gladly accepted the hug, realizing for the first time how much she'd missed her red-headed friend.

That hug had barely ended before Scott pulled Avery in for a warm, friendly embrace. Happy to have her home and see that she was doing better, stepping back from the hug he asked, "Are you okay, like… are you better now?"

Managing a smile she nodded, "I'm doing a lot better, happy to see all of you again."

"We're glad you're back." Stiles quietly said as he stepped forward, pausing for a moment before he hugged her. A small frown on his lips when he felt her tense up, even though she hugged him back.

He remembered everything the nogitsune did to her, how it had tortured her by bringing up and feeding off of her pain. And he knew she remembered it too. While she was gone he'd wanted to go see her at the treatment facility, but he felt like he was a big part of the reason she was in there to begin with.

"So, what is all of this about?" Scott questioned, barely getting his words out before Teagan and Isaac rushed into the room.

"Apparently something happened to Derek." Isaac said looking to Avery for an explanation, as Teagan hugged all of her friends after months of not seeing any of them.

As the group surrounded the metal exam table Avery took a deep breath and looked around as she asked, "When was the last time any of you saw… or even spoke to Derek?"

Lydia shrugged and Stiles glance up with the ceiling with a thoughtful expression. Scott admitted, "It's been a while… weeks and weeks."

Dropping her arms to the side Avery asked, "And you didn't try to contact him?"

Scott's eyes widened at her reaction and he admitted, "I texted him a few times, but he never said anything back."

With a small laugh Stiles asked, "Does Derek ever return your texts?"

"A few times…" Scott said, then admitted, "Once. Definitely once."

Rolling her eyes at them, Avery said, "Well he returns mine, but he hasn't responded to any of my calls or texts since I've been back, not even when I let him know I was home and Cora said she hasn't heard anything from him in like a month. So I went by his loft and at first I thought everything was fine, but then… I found these."

Her sentence ended with her opened up the metal canister and pulled out a bullet shell with a worried expression on her face.

Teagan reached in a pulled one out too, turning it in her hand until she saw a marking on it. A skull with raised pointed brows and rows of sharp teeth, it looked evil –almost demented and a chill ran down her spine and she shivered in response.

"What does this mean?" Stiles asked pointing to the skull design.

With a soft shrug, Teagan reasoned, "Hunters maybe? Each family or group of hunters normally have a symbol they use. With the Argent's it's a fleur de lis."

The mood of the room shifted and Avery nodded in agreement, "That demonic looking skull design on there." She jutted a finger at the bullet in her friend's hand, "Is the mark of a family of hunters, based out of Mexico. The Calaveras."

"How you know that?" Lydia asked, practically stealing the words from Teagan's mind.

"When Derek took Cora back to South America, he told me and he and Peter were caught by a group of hunters. I looked into it because I didn't know if they were going to follow him back to here or what?" Glancing at Scott she said, "It's my job to be prepared for this kind of stuff, to protect and help the pack."

"Wait." Isaac breathed, "You said on the phone you thought Derek was missing… I'm not trying to be the bearer of bad news here, but things aren't looking good. He might be dead, not missing."

"Don't say that." Teagan hushed him with a nudge to the side.

"Again… always with the not helping." Stiles breathed causing the beta to shoot him a look.

"The Calavera's had the chance to kill Derek and Peter both before… but they didn't. And also, I had to crawl around on the floor to find these shells, they were trying to cover their tracks. If they were just going to kill him, or have killed him why even go to all that trouble?" Avery pointed out, causing her friends to nod in agreement with her.

"What if they did kill him?" Isaac continued to try and make his point.

"That's why Lydia's here." Avery said as she pushed the metal canister to her friend, who cocked her head to the side and sighed.

"I don't know how to do this… it's not just something I can turn on, I don't know how to control it." Lydia argued, her eyes locking with Avery's as she spoke.

"You can do this… I know you can, you just need to focus and believe." Avery said, as Teagan reached over and rubbed Lydia's arm in an attempt to comfort her and keep her calm.

With an unsure expression, Lydia reached into the container and pulled out the handful of bullet casings as she pinned her eyes shut and dropped them onto the metal table –gasping and jumping each time another gold colored shell collided with the table.

Gripping onto the table her breathing was shaky and uneven as she tried to piece together what had just happened.

Everyone stayed quiet as they watched the banshee, waiting on her give them news.

"Hey… what, what happened? Is he dead?" Stiles finally asked after a few minutes.

"No." She answered but before the mood of the room could lift she continued in a hushed and hesitant tone, "But I'm not so sure he's alive either…"

"What does that even mean?" Scott questioned as he leaned over the table, feeling guilty for not checking on Derek during the time Avery had been gone.

"I don't know… there is something not right, I just…" Lydia's jaw clenched as she shook her head, "I don't know."

"So we know the Calavera's have him… how are we getting him back?" Isaac asked, as he curled an arm around Teagan and pulled her close when he saw her trembling from a coldness in the air that no one else seemed to be feeling.

Picking up a bullet Scott reasoned, "Mexico."

"Okay, we've got the where… but not the how." Stiles pointed out.

"Yeah." Teagan agreed, "If this family of hunters does have Derek… how do we even start to get him back?"

Avery looked around the room at her friends as she said, "My dad has this theory of when it comes to solving problems… he says that everyone can be bought, everyone has a price."

Teagan swallowed hard and looked down to the table, appreciating the warmth from Isaac's side as she cuddled against him.

"That's the plan?" Stiles asked shocked, "We're going to go to Mexico, find this family of hunters and buy Derek from them."

"Do you have a better idea?" Scott asked his best friend, knowing Avery's plan was far from fool-proof, but it was the only plan they had with Lydia not being entirely sure on Derek's current state of life, they didn't have time to waste.

They group of friends talked late into the night trying to work out a plan to rescue Derek.

**~(The next day)~**

The next morning Avery woke up, squinting in the sunlight seeping in through her windows. With a groan she pinned her eyes shut, dreading the day she had ahead of her.

She was going to have to get money out of her dad and later in the day they were all heading to Mexico. A part of her didn't want to start the day because at least in that moment, there was a chance that Derek was still alive. But if they continued the plan and went to Mexico, she had no idea what could happen.

Her black lace and silk nightdress left her lean legs exposed as she pushed the blanket off of her and mustered the strength to sit up on the side of her bed. She lowered her head into her hands and felt like there was no way she could find the strength –physical or mental to go on with day as planned.

That was, until she reached over to her bed side table trying to find her lip balm but when it wasn't on top she opened the drawer –revealing not only the lost tube of lip balm but also the picture of herself and Derek she'd left there a day prior.

Her eyes watered as she stared at the picture and remembered the day the picture had been taken. It wasn't long after Derek had started living with her once he'd been attacked by the hunters at his family's house, and the night of the attack at the video store. Instead of staying with her Derek had decided it was more important to try and track the alpha than to stay with his shaken and terrified girlfriend.

That night she'd had a break down after he left and destroyed her room in a fit of frenzied anger, after they'd worked things out –he'd been helping her fix her room back and when they were putting things in her closet she'd found an old disposable camera with just a few open slots left.

It had taken some convincing and even a little arguing with him, but finally he'd caved and agreed he'd be in the pictures with her. She couldn't use the flash on the camera because his eyes would have reflected it, but in the sunlight from the window off to the side they didn't need the flash of light.

Swallowing hard she ran her trembling fingers over the picture and slowly gathered the strength to put the picture down and get out of bed.

Avery showered and changed clothes before heading downstairs to see her dad who was in his office. He'd just gotten off the phone when she lightly knocked on the open door and walked inside asking, "Hey, dad… do you have a second? Or are you busy?"

"I'm in the progress of negotiations for opening up a new branch of the bank in San Francisco." He explained as he looked between the computer tablet in his hand and the computer on his desk.

The he paused, thinking about all of the trouble she'd had and asked, "Wait… are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just had a quick question…" She said, hoping like normal he'd be so distracted by work that he wouldn't pay much attention to what she was doing, "Could you take the withdrawal limit off of the savings account you set up for emergencies, I need to take some money out."

"Sure." He agreed giving her a smile, but just as she started to walk away he called, "Avery, wait…"

"Yeah, dad?"

"The limit on that account is $20,000." He reminded her, thinking that she'd gotten confused about something.

With a nervous smile she nodded, "Yeah, I'm going to need that lifted…"

"What the hell could you need to take more than $20,000 out of an account for?" He asked, shocked, ignoring his phone that was ringing on the desk.

With a sigh, she walked into his office and explained the situation with hunters possibly having Derek and her needed to have enough money to be able to buy him back.

"How much are we talking?" He finally asked her, breaking the heavy silence of the room.

"At least $50,000." She quietly admitted.

"Avery… that is a lot of money." He reasoned, shaking his head back and forth at her.

"We have the money, dad. I know we do." She argued back.

"You're not touching the regular saving account, and the account you're wanting to tap into is for emergencies only." He said rubbing his hands over his tired face.

"Fine… then what about my college fund?" She pushed, standing up from her seat and not understanding what the big deal was seeing as how Derek's life was on the line.

"Absolutely not!" He yelled, "You're not touching your college fund!"

"Then what about the trust mom had set up for me? The one her life insurance payout went into… I know I can't touch it until I'm 21, but you own the bank! There has to be something you can do…" She felt bad for even bringing her mom up, knowing how much pain the memories caused her dad, but she was running out of time and options.

Richard's jaw dropped as he stared at her in shock, in utter disbelief that she was suggesting that in the first place.

Seeing he wasn't caving a realization hit her as she guessed, "This isn't about the money, is it? This is about you not wanting me to save, Derek?"

"Avery listen to me…" He sighed as he looked down to the wooden desk in front of him.

"They could be torturing him, dad."

He closed his eyes and tried not to think about as he said, "I can't make that my problem, Avery. I like Derek, I really do… but this world, this supernatural world has almost killed you more than a handful of times and I can't just let you put yourself in another life or death situation."

Her jaw tensed and she couldn't believe what he was saying to her.

"I know how bad it sounds, and I hate myself for it. But I'm not giving you the money for this because I'm afraid if you leave for Mexico, that you're not coming back. I'm just trying to look out for you." He admitted his tone heavy, as his shoulders dropped forward.

Shaking her head back and forth she breathed, "What part of this are you not understanding?" With a heavy sigh her voice raised until she was yelling, "Hunters have Derek and our best shot… my only shot at bringing him back safe is this money!"

"There has to be someone who deals with this sort of werewolf thing, someone we can hire to go and save him…" He began to reason but she yelled loudly cutting him off.

"There is someone who handles this sort of stuff! People like me, dad! People like me and Teagan who are trained for this world… and people like Scott who's an alpha. We can do this, if I can just get the money we can go and save him." She yelled.

"It's not happening." Richard stood his ground, for the first time in a long time really trying to watch out and protect his teenage daughter.

"What is wrong with you?" She shrieked, her voice hurting his ears as it echoed through the office.

Cutting her off, he yelled back, "You have no idea what almost losing you did to me, Avery. I watched you almost die, again! But this time it was by your own hand. I sat up every single night you were away wondering where I went so wrong with you… how I should have never let you check into Eichen House to help Stiles, because god knows you were never the same when you came back out of there."

Seeing tears starting to swell up in his daughter's eyes he lowered his voice some, "I'm not perfect… 16 years in and I'm still struggling with how to be a good dad. I have made mountains of mistakes when it came to you, but I'm here now and I know you don't believe it but I am really trying to protect you."

Her chin quivered and her voice trembled as she said, "I think we're long past the point of me needing to be protected. I need you to believe and trust in me enough to know that I can do this, that I have to do this to bring Derek back home."

He sat down in his desk chair with a heavy sigh as he shook his head back and forth, showing he wasn't giving in. This was one fight Avery wasn't winning, because in his mind he really was trying to step up and protect her.

After grabbing her purse and the small going away bag she'd packed, Avery headed out the front door to meet up with her friends, her dad couldn't stop her from trying to save someone she cared deeply about.

Looking down to her phone at the time she sighed heavily, before sliding her phone under her leg and pulling her seatbelt on. Derek was in trouble, possibly not even alive and she would stop at nothing until she had her answer and if he was still alive –she wasn't stopping until he was back home, safe.

**~()~**

Not long after she woke up, Teagan grabbed an overnight bag and began to throw some clothes inside. She wasn't sure how long they were going to be in Mexico; she was hoping for a short and quick trip, but wanted to be prepared for anything. Which was also why she grabbed a few weapons to throw inside.

She was in the middle of folding up a pair of blue jean shorts, when there was a knock at her bedroom door before it opened and her father walked in.

"Morning, Sweet Tea." Paul said, as he smiled at his daughter. "Finally unpacking?" He questioned.

"Actually... I was going to talk to you about this when I was done." Teagan said, as she gestured to the bag.

"What's going on?" Paul asked. "You just got home and now you're leaving again?"

"Derek is gone. Someone took him." Teagan said. She knew some of the others; like Stiles and Scott, were going to lie about where they were going, but she couldn't do it.

"Okay." Paul said with a nod. "And you have to go because?"

"We know who took him and we have to go to Mexico to get him." Teagan stated.

"That's unfortunate for Derek, and I don't mean to be insensitive here, but I'll ask again... Why do you have to go?" Paul questioned. "I didn't realize you and Derek were that close."

"We're not." Teagan said. "I mean, we're not friends or anything, but I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to him. Plus he's important to Avery and Avery..."

"Is still recovering." Paul finished for her.

"Yeah." Teagan said with a short nod. "And I can't let her go through this alone."

"How long will you be gone?" Paul asked.

"No clue. Hopefully not long." Teagan answered honestly. "It's a family of hunters who has him, but Avery is sure he can be bought back. If that's true, then it should be a quick trip. Just pay the money, grab Derek and come home." At least she hope that is how all of this would play out.

"I can imagine something like that will cost a lot." Paul said. "Where are you going to get that kind of money?" He questioned, hoping she wasn't going to ask for any. It's not that he didn't want to help, they were doing well financially, but probably not well enough to buy back a werewolf, however much that would be.

"Avery said she has the money covered." Teagan answered.

"Who all is going?" Paul questioned. He raised his eyebrows, shooting her a look, as he added,"Isaac?"

Teagan nodded her head, as she added,"And Scott, Stiles, Kira, Malia and Lydia."

"That's a lot of people just to buy back a werewolf." Paul pointed out, feeling like there was more she wasn't telling him. "And the fact that you're packing weapons..." He began to say, as she tossed a couple of daggers inside the bag. "Makes me think this is more than just a rescue mission."

"I'm just trying to be prepared. Allison..." Teagan paused after mentioning her friend's name, her eyes filled with tears. She cleared her throat, as she softly added,"Allison always believed in being prepared for anything. That's the way she taught us to be."

Paul laid a hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. He lowered his head a bit to catch her eyes, as he said,"She would be proud of you, Sweet Tea. She would be proud of you all."

"Thanks." Teagan whispered, as she flashed him a small smile. She knew if Allison was there now she would be going with them all to save Derek, cause that's what pack members did, that's what friends did; they have each other's back no matter what.

The two were quiet for a moment, until they heard the front door open downstairs, followed by Aspen giving a friendly bark out to someone. They faintly heard Isaac talking to Aspen before he made his way upstairs to join them.

"Well, I'm not going to lie, I wish you weren't going on this trip, but I also trust that you can handle yourself." He gave her forehead a kiss, before adding,"But the father in me still has to say be careful and keep in touch with me, okay?"

"I will." Teagan promised.

"And if this does turn into an overnight trip, the same rules apply as before." Paul began to say. He turned his head, seeing Isaac in the doorway, then turned back to look at his daughter, as he stated to both of them,"Just like in Long Beach, separate rooms for you two, okay?"

"Of course, Dad." Teagan said with a smile.

"Be careful, both of you.." Paul said to the two teens; who both nodded back in return. He began to walk toward the door, then paused in front of Isaac. He held out his hand to shake his, as he said to him,"Bring my daughter back safe and sound."

"I promise. Whatever happens, I'll make sure she's okay." Isaac said, as he shook his hand.

"Just make sure you look out for yourself too." Paul said, as he laid his other hand on Isaac's shoulder. He gave it a friendly pat, as he added,"I want you both back safe, okay?"

"Of-Of course, sir." Isaac said with a smile. Surprised, yet happy to hear his request.

Isaac continued to smile, as he watched Paul walk down the hall then made his way downstairs. Once he was gone, he turned to look at Teagan as he walked into the bedroom.

"I think your dad likes me again." Isaac said, as he made his way over to her, giving her a quick kiss.

"I figured that out a couple of months ago when he agreed to let us go to Long Beach together while Avery was getting help." Teagan pointed out.

"Good point." Isaac said with a nod. "I doubt many fathers would let his teenage daughter leave town alone with her boyfriend if he hated him." He thought about something Paul just said, then quietly added,"Of course he thinks we were in different rooms. If he knew we shared a room, he would probably hate me again."

"Shh." Teagan whispered, as she placed a finger against her lips. "He doesn't need to know that part. He never needs to know about that."

"You don't have to worry about me telling. I can keep a secret." Isaac said with a smile, as he laid his hands on her sides.

"Yeah, me too." Teagan quietly said, as she thought about the secret she was keeping from him now. When she saw him get ready to lean down and kiss, she pulled back and turned around toward her bag to finish packing, the guilt getting to her.

"Hey.. you okay?" Isaac asked, as he come up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and brushed her hair aside to lay a small kiss on the side of her neck, before resting his chin on her shoulders, watching as she zipped her bag up.

"Yeah, I just... I'm nervous about this trip. I mean, I know it's Derek and we should help, but I'm just worried." She blew out a breath, as she added,"About what's going to happen once we are there, about what this is going to do Avery. And I still don't understand what Lydia meant about he's not alive, but he's not dead either."

Isaac turned her around to face him, laying a hand on the side of her face, as he said,"Whatever it means, we'll figure it out. Together."

"I know, I just... if we're too late and he's already..." She paused, unable to finish the sentence. She sighed, as she continued,"I just worry what that will do to Avery. I mean, even if they're broken up, they still care about each other a lot, and after everything else that has happened, the people we have already lost, she won't be able to handle losing Derek too."

As Isaac nodded his head at her words, she wrapped her arms around his neck, as she added,"I also think about what this would do to you. I mean at one time, Derek was your alpha. He turned you, and that means something, right? Like there's always some kind of connection there?"

"Yeah." Isaac quietly said, as he nodded his head again. He tried not to think about it much, if something was wrong with Derek. He hoped he was okay, of course, cause even though he was a part of a different pack now, he still felt a bond toward his old alpha. He remembered how badly it felt to lose Erica and Boyd, he never wanted to feel that way again, he never wanted to lose another pack member.

Seeing the look on his face, she moved one of her hands up his neck and into his hair, trying to give him comfort, as she said,"It's going to be okay. We have to believe he is okay and we're going to get him back."

Isaac nodded his head in agreement as he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers for a gentle kiss, drawing strength from her. He pulled her closer to him, wishing he could fully get lost in her, but before things could go much further, they heard her cell phone go off, letting them know she had a new text message.

She pulled away from him and grabbed her phone from the bedside table, seeing it was from Avery; who was out in the front of her house waiting for them.

"Well, I guess it's time to go. Avery is here." Teagan announced, as she read the message.

"You ready?" Isaac questioned.

"I don't think I'll ever be ready for this, but we have to go." Teagan said with sigh, as she picked up her bag from the bed.

Isaac took the bag from her hands, hanging it on her shoulders, then reached out to grab her arm, as he quietly said,"Come here."

He pulled her toward him, as he wrapped an arm around her waist, keeping her tucked against his side, as the two began to walk out of the bedroom and made their way toward the front door.

She spoke to her dad for a second, hugging him and telling him bye, then gave Aspen a few quick pets on the head, before the couple walked out the front door together. They saw Avery parked on the street in front of the house. She was leaned back against her car, a dark pair of shades covering her eyes, as she stared at her car as if it was the last time she would see it.

"Hey, we're taking your car, right?" Teagan called out, getting her best friend's attention.

Avery snapped her head up, looking over at the couple, as she said,"Actually I was going to tell you to bring your car."

"What?" Isaac asked in surprise, as Teagan asked,"Why?" Both were confused by the comment.

Before Avery could answer, they heard a car pull up behind them, then turned to see it was the Jeep with the others inside. Stiles beep the horn at them, then poked his head out of the window.

"We ready?" He questioned, as he looked over at Avery, Teagan and Isaac.

"You do know this isn't some fun trip for spring break or something, right?" Isaac said back, when he saw how excited Stiles looked.

Stiles rolled his eyes at the comment, before saying,"Can't I just be happy about getting out of this town for a while?" Before anyone could answer, he continued,"Even if we are leaving one dangerous place to go to another dangerous place in hopes of rescuing a werewolf from hunters who is probably just going to murder us as soon as we walk in and..." He paused for a minute, seeing the look that everyone was giving him, then said,"Yeah, I'm just going to shut up now."

After Stiles sat back in the driver's seat, Teagan looked over at Avery, as she asked,"Okay, A, what is going on?"

"Just follow me in your car. We have one quick stop to make before we can hit the road." Avery said, before she turned and began to walk toward the driver side door.

Teagan shook her head and blew out a sigh, feeling even more confused than before. She knew Avery had some of the money, but didn't really understand where else they could go to get the rest.

She looked over at Isaac for a moment then turned to walk over to her car. Isaac glanced over at the Jeep, seeing the confused looks on all of their faces and knew they had some of the same questions he did. But all he could do was shrug his shoulders, before he turned to follow along behind Teagan, as the two got into her car before pulling out of the driveway to follow Avery down the road.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading! ^_^ In case any of you were wondering why we're not updating as much as we did with 'The Dark Blue Moon' it's because we're still in the process of getting things in order and rewriting some scenes. But as long as we still have an interest in the Blue Moon Series, we'll continue to work hard and get these chapters out as fast as we can.**


	4. This Isn't the Plan

**Chapter Four – This Isn't the Plan**

* * *

><p>"What is she doing?" Stiles asked as he got out of the driver's seat of his jeep and walked over to where Teagan was standing leaned against her car, watching as Avery was in a deep conversation with a man next to her car across the small parking lot.<p>

Teagan looked over to where Scott was sitting in front seat of Stiles' jeep on the phone with his dad, lying about how he and his friends were going on a camping trip. Her brown eyes, lingered on where Lydia and Kira were all sitting the backseat of the jeep as she answered his question, "There was a limit set on the account she drew money out of… she got the full $20,000 from it then we hit different ATM's and she got money advances on some credit cards but it's still just not enough she said she wanted to stop here."

Stiles blew out a heavy breath and asked, "Loan shark?"

Teagan barely held back a laugh at his words as she asked, "Do those really exist?"

"I think so." Stiles admitted, looking up to see Isaac and Malia walking back towards them from the small gas station they'd ran into to get snacks for the long drive they had ahead of them.

"Here you go." Isaac smiled to Teagan as he opened the bag in his hand and handed her a bottle of water.

"Thanks babe." She smiled as she took a drink.

"Hey." Stiles greeted Malia with a smile, as he glanced down to the bag in her hand, "You pick some snacks out?"

She nodded and proudly opened the bag to display it contained nothing but Reese's Cups.

"I tried to get her to pick some chips or something." Isaac admitted looking between the pair.

Running a hand over his hair he admitted, "She, uh… she loves Reese's."

"You don't say." Isaac responded, causing Teagan to bury her face against his side trying to hold in a laugh.

After shooting the beta a look, Stiles looked back over to see the guy Avery had been talking to was now counting out a large amount of money.

"Now we're getting somewhere." He exclaimed, hoping they could finally start the long trip they had head of them, they were already running a few hours behind.

The group watched as Avery reached into her purse and pulled out some papers which they both signed before he gave her the money and they saw her give him the keys to her car.

Teagan gasped and the bag Isaac had been holding onto fell to the ground when it slid from his grip, as the couple stared in shock as Avery had the guy open the trunk and she grabbed the last of her belongings out of it.

"What?" Malia asked them, not only seeing but picking up on their reactions.

"She just sold her car…" Stiles answered, his voice was high pitched and had a slight squeak to it as he stared at the 1965 Mustang that was Avery's dream car.

"Okay." The brunette shrugged, looking from Stiles then over to Teagan and Isaac who looked just as shocked as he did.

"What's the big deal… it's just a car."

"It's not just a car…" Teagan spoke up, then whispered, "Not to her…" She knew better than anyone how much Avery adored her car, she only trusted a handful of people enough to let them drive it.

Malia looked over the sleek, mint condition classic Mustang as Avery shut the trunk and turned back to them as she asked, "What does it do?"

The trio all turned their heads and looked at her, causing her eyes to widen slightly as pointed out, "You said it's not just a car."

Seeing Avery was walking towards them Stiles place a hand on Malia's back and started to lead her back towards the jeep as he said to his friends, "We're just going to get back in my jeep… hopefully out of the danger zone."

"A!" Teagan exclaimed as her blonde best friend stopped next to the car with them.

"Don't." Avery breathed holding up a hand to silence her, she knew very well what she'd just parted with and didn't need a reminder or to rehash what just happened.

"I'm confused." Isaac admitted, pausing for a moment before he asked, "How did you know some random guy here would be interested in your car." He leaned down picking up the bag of spilt snacks as he spoke.

Rolling her eyes Avery said, "First off… everyone is interested in my car."

With raised eyebrows, he pushed, "And secondly?"

With an exasperated sigh she pointed a thumb over her shoulder towards the classic car showcase building that was next to the gas station.

"Hmm…" Isaac breathed, realizing he'd never noticed the building before.

He opened the passenger door for Teagan to get inside the car, but when neither girl budged he mumbled under his breath about how he'd start the car as he walked around and got into the driver's seat.

Teagan pushed the open door shut and gave Avery a hard stare as she asked, "So we're really doing this? Selling your car and taking off to Mexico?"

"We don't have a choice, T." Avery argued, folding her arms over her chest.

"I don't like this… this is a terrible –terrible plan. Not to mention you haven't been back in town an entire week, I really don't think it's smart to be doing this." She voiced her opinions.

"Teagan, if it were any of us…" she asserted, motioning around them all and over to Stiles' packed jeep, "Then you'd be selling your car and draining bank accounts."

"What are you saying?" The brunette asked, an unusual jolt of attitude in her voice.

"I'm saying that… Derek doesn't have anyone okay? Our pack, that's it for him! Cora's off doing her own thing now and Peter is entirely useless and untrustworthy. If I don't save him, then no one will." She continued to argue, ignoring the horn from Stiles' jeep as Lydia leaned between the front seats and honked at them.

"What if this sets you back, A? I just got you back and the last thing we need is you running back to Derek!" Her voice was barely over a whisper as her doe eyes pleaded with Avery to just turn back and head home.

"I'm doing this. I'm going to Mexico to save Derek. If you don't want to we will drop you back off at your house." Avery dismissed the conversation as she opened the back door and climbed into the seat.

Glancing back at her Isaac started to ask if she was okay, but the only answer he got was her slamming the door and then Teagan letting out frustrated noise before she jerked the passenger door open and got into the car with them.

"Hey babe… are you okay?" Isaac asked her, but he didn't get a response either as she slammed her door shut and put her seat belt on as she angrily crossed her arms over her chest and stared at the side window.

"Okay then…" He breathed under his breath, as he looked over into the backseat to Avery also had her arms crossed over her chest and staring out of her own window.

"This is going to be a long car ride, isn't it?" He mumbled, already knowing the answer.

"Just drive!" Both girls shouted in unison, causing him to jump in his seat and blow out a heavy breath as he pulled his own seatbelt on and started to drive towards the interstate with Stiles following behind in his jeep.

**~()~**

Teagan leaned back against the building with a sigh, as she folded her arms across her chest. After a long, tense drive, they were now in Mexico. She was standing outside the club with Isaac, and even while standing outside the building they could hear the bass bumping from inside, but what they didn't know was what was going on inside at the moment.

Scott, Kira and Malia went in earlier to get an idea for the place They figured it would look suspicious if they all went in together. She and Isaac were suppose to go in twenty minutes later, then close to twenty minutes after that; Avery, Stiles and Lydia would go in.

"How many more minutes until we go in?" Teagan asked, as she looked over at her boyfriend.

"Just a couple more minutes." Isaac answered, as he looked at the time on his cell phone.

Teagan nodded her head, as she leaned back against the wall again and closed her eyes. She remembered another time recently when she had to wait a few minutes on something important, those were the longest minutes of her life.

"Okay, its time." Isaac said, pulling her out of her thought.

She nodded her head, as she pushed away from the wall and saw him holding out his hand for her to take. She laid her smaller hand in his, as the two walked out of the alley and glanced around, trying to figure out the best way to get inside.

The two paused for a moment, seeing a group of people; who were heading for the front door. As the group walked passed them, they began to walk with the big crowd of partygoers, hoping to blend in. Teagan nervously bit her bottom lip, hoping the men at the door would just let them in with the others with no questions asked.

Isaac ran his thumb across the back of her hand when he heard her heart racing. He knew she was worried if they would be able to get inside or if they would get caught, but he had to believe this plan would work. There was no plan B.

He pulled her closer to him, as he weaved his way through group, placing them in the middle. He kept his head down, avoiding looking at anyone, and hoped no one noticed him and Teagan crashing the party, as the group began to walk inside the building.

Teagan held her breath, as they made their way down a long hall. She glanced over at Isaac, seeing him shoot her a reassuring smile, causing her to blow out a breath as they got closer to a door. One of the girls in the group pushed the door open, revealing a packed dance club.

Isaac kept Teagan close to him, as they continued to walk inside the club. Once they were in, he turned to the left, walking in the opposite direction as the group they snuck in with.

The two stood on the edge of the dance floor, trying to get their eyes to adjust to all the flashing lights and dancing bodies before them. Teagan nervously messed with the tank top she was wearing. The top; as well as the short shorts she was wearing was not her usual attire, she wasn't use to showing so much skin, but knew she needed to blend in with the crowd, and judging by what some of the other girls in the club was wearing, her outfit would definitely help her to blend in.

"You look great." Isaac said in her ear, as he leaned toward her so she could hear him better. He rested his hand on the small of her back, giving her goosebumps as his hand touched her bare skin, thanks to the backless top she was wearing.

"I can't believe I let Avery talk me into wearing this." Teagan mumbled, as she shook her head.

"Hey..." Isaac began to say, getting her attention. He laid his hands on her hips, turning her toward him, as he continued,"You look beautiful. Personally, I'm finding it very hard to keep my eyes off of you."

"Just your eyes?" Teagan teased, as she felt him moving his hands from her hips to her back again.

He grinned as he moved his hand over her skin, wishing they were anywhere else right now besides a club in Mexico to rescue a friend. He wished they were somewhere alone where he could take full advantage of the outfit she was wearing; where he could touch her the way he really wanted to right now.

"Maybe more than just my eyes." Isaac said, as he ran a hand up her back, then placed it on the side of her face, cupping her cheek. "Maybe I can't keep my hands off of you either." He added, as he leaned closer to her.

"Is that it?" Teagan questioned, as she smiled up at him, for a moment forgetting the real reason they were there.

"No, that's not it." Isaac said, as he shook his head. With a grin, he continued to move his face closer to her before pressing his lips against hers for a soft kiss.

He had planned to keep the kiss quick and simple, until she laid her hand on the back of his neck, gripping his hair and pushed her body against his. He grinned against her lips, knowing exactly what was on her mind at the moment; by her scent and her actions, and he wished they could do something about that, but he knew they had to stick to the plan.

He nibbled on her bottom lip and let out a small groan, hating that he had to stop and pull away, but he knew if he didn't know, he wouldn't be able to later. He wanted her as much as she wanted him right now.

With a sigh, he rested his forehead against hers, as he said,"This is not part of the plan. You distracting me was never a part of the plan."

"Sorry." Teagan breathed out with a small laugh. She pulled back to look at him, as she said,"But to be fair, you started it. You touched me first."

"Technically you started it by wearing that outfit." Isaac pointed out, as his eyes roamed her body. He sucked in a breath, as he added,"I definitely have to thank Avery for that later."

"Stop it!" Teagan said with a laugh, as she playfully slapped him in the stomach. She pointed a finger at him, trying to act serious, as she said,"We need to focus. Get back to the plan."

"Right, the plan." Isaac said,as he nodded his head.

He turned back to look at the dance floor and stood beside her. As he reached out to wrap an arm around her waist, she spoke up and said,"And no touching."

"No touching?" Isaac questioned, as he turned his head to look at her.

"No touching." Teagan repeating. "Touching leads to kissing which leads to us being distracted. So..."

"No touching." Isaac finished for her with a sigh. His eyes scanned the dance floor, as he added,"I'm really starting to hate this plan."

**~()~**

The sun was setting as Stiles, Lydia and Avery headed towards their destination, a dance club owned by the Calaveras. There friends were already inside, trying to blend in with the crowd and wait for the rest of the plan to unfold.

Lydia paused and looked around letting out a sigh and shaking her head back and forth, her gaze falling down to the dirt road they were standing on in the center of the town.

"It's not that bad." Stiles reasoned, as Avery nodded in agreement.

"It's not the town… it's the plan." Lydia admitted to her friends.

"What's wrong with the plan?" Avery asked, as the trio came to a stop.

"Avery… this could be the stupidest plan we've ever came up with." The red-head replied, before snapping her gaze to Stiles as she asked, "You're aware of that, right?"

"I'm aware it's not our best…" He quietly answered.

"We… are going to die." Lydia said, starting to walk again as Avery ignored her and continued on the journey.

"You saying that as a banshee or just being pessimistic?" Stiles asked Lydia, as they quickened their pace to catch up with Avery.

"I'm saying it as a person who doesn't want to die."

"Okay, than you mind restricting any talk of death to actual banshee predictions?" Stiles breathed out as they started to cut through an ally, but they all came to a stop as Avery spun around and faced them.

"Lydia?"

"What?" Lydia asked expecting Avery to chew her out, but instead she reached out and grabbed her friend's purse from her shoulder, and moved it where it was slung across her body.

Lydia looked down as Avery said, "You don't just carry your purse on your shoulder, not here… keep your hands on it at all times."

Her friend's eyes widened and she clutched onto her bag as she stated, "This plan is stupid and we're going to die."

"Ah, thank you!" Stiles exclaimed sarcastically as they neared the building.

As the group of teens stepped towards the door, two men blocked their way. Lydia opened her mouth, saying in Spanish that they were there for the club; but they were met with unwavering expressions.

Avery nudged Stiles who gasped and remembered the card Avery had given to him to hang onto, as he reached into his pocket retrieving the card with the Calaveras trademark skull design.

Once they showed it to the security camera, the doors opened and Avery immediately walked inside followed by her friends.

Stiles glanced at the blonde as they made their way down the hallway, it was supposed to just be he and Avery who were working on negotiations but then Avery claimed that they needed another person. She'd tried to play it off like it would look more intimidating if there were 3 of them, but he knew she was just nervous to be alone with him after what the nogitsune had done to her.

The only person who'd been willing to accompany Stiles and Avery was Malia, but after Teagan had politely as possible pointed out that the werecoyote didn't have the best people skills –Lydia had gotten roped into going alone.

Lydia followed behind her friends, her eyes traveling over the dimly lit, red painted walls as they neared another set of double doors. Bass from the music could be both heard and felt through the vibrating walls as they got closer to the other set of doors and the guys out front closed the entrance off with slamming the doors.

Lydia spun around as the door shut then looked to her friends as Stiles gave an empathetic shrug, but with a sense of determination Avery shoved the next set of doors open revealing a darkened room with glowing lights everywhere as a dj mixed and played music from a lit balcony.

There was a bar off to the left side of the room and the floor was covered in people dancing wildly and having a good time. On any other occasion, Avery would have been thrilled to be there to party.

But this wasn't a social occasion, they were on a mission to save someone. Which is exactly what she reminded herself as they headed to the bar and the bar tended slid two shot glasses of tequila towards her and Lydia. Avery glanced over to see Stiles standing a few steps away, his back turned to them as he looked around the room trying to locate their friends.

With a small sigh, Lydia started to reach for her purse to pay for the shots they didn't order and Avery stared down to the clear liquid in the glass a part of her wanting to down both shots, and another part of her arguing that she needed to stay focused. Derek's life was on the line and she needed a clear head.

Both girls tensed up when they each felt a hand land on their shoulders, they looked between them to see an unfamiliar man as he smiled and said, "No… on the house."

Lydia slowly removed her hand from her purse and turned her head stared straight forward. As he saw neither girl making a move for their shot he continued in a thick Spanish accent, "What? Most American teenagers don't cross the border to refuse a drink."

"We didn't come here to drink." Lydia said as Avery reached into her leather jacket pocket and retrieved a golden bullet casing with the Calavera's sign; one she'd gotten from Derek's loft and dropped it into her still full shot glass.

"This way then…" He said, his eyes lingering on the shell in the clear glass, as he started to lead them towards some stairs off to the back of the room.

Reaching a hand back, Avery grabbed onto Stiles' arm to get his attention as he was still searching for their friends.

**~()~**

Once they were in a quieter upstairs room, seated across the desk from an older woman the trio exchanged looks as she started to rip the hem stitching from a cloth in her hand with a small, curved –yet very sharp knife.

Lydia's face seemed to drain of color with every small ripping the sound the fabric made under the pressure of the knife, and Stiles nervously cleared his throat as he shifted in his seat.

Seeing the teen's reluctance to start the conversation, Araya looked up from the cloth she was working on as she nodded to the man who'd led them to the room, "Severo hates this music. Me? I've always loved the music of youth."

She watched as Avery shifted in her chair and continued, "Especially this kind, it has a savage energy."

"We're here for Derek Hale." Avery finally spoke up, her tone calm and confident.

With a smirk, Araya questioned, "Is that so, dama de la magia?"

Lydia leaned forward in her seat some seeming more uncomfortable than before.

"What does that mean?" Stiles whispered.

"Lady of magic." Avery translated the Spanish for him, and he knew why Lydia had gotten uncomfortable. It was obvious while Avery had been looking to the Calaveras –the family of hunters were checking into their pack as well.

Avery leaned forward in her seat keeping her gaze steady on the hunter as she suavely caught her off guard by referring to her by her name, "Well, it seems we've both been doing our homework, Araya."

Seeing her surprised expression Avery said, "So let's just cut the chase, shall we? I know about you, I know about the Calaveras and I also happen to know you can be bought."

On cue Stiles reached into his pocket pulling out 5 stacks of bills and laid them down on the desk as he said, "That's $50,000 for Derek."

"Wow…" The older hunter breathed as she laid her knife and cloth down on the table and questioned, "Where does a teenage boy get money like this…"

Lydia gasped and jumped as a young woman sitting in a chair lining the wall cocked her shot gun and looked at the teenagers.

"It doesn't matter where it came from." Avery snapped.

Pulling her gaze from the gun Lydia cleared her throat and agreed, "The money in exchange for Derek."

"Not smart to come alone…" Araya taunted them as she leaned forward, her face finally moving out of the shadows.

"What makes you think we came alone?" Stiles smugly asked, hoping his friends were downstairs because when they were down there he hadn't managed to spot any of them.

"You brought a wolf into my home?" Araya asked them.

The three friends exchanged looks before Stiles said, "We brought an alpha."

The room fell silent before she cracked a smile and said, "My friends… I don't think you're aware of your poor timing. Do you know what the dark moon is?"

Raising her head Lydia admitted, "The part of the lunar phase when the moon is least visible in the sky."

"Yes, but do you know it's meaning?"

With a shrug Lydia replied, "Some people say it's a time of reflection… or grief."

The hunter watched as a look of sadness fell of the teens, and nodded as she explained, "Grief and loss, mija. I wonder why, when you and your friends have suffered so much loss you would risk it again for someone like Derek Hale."

Avery's head cocked to the side and her eyes narrowed as she said, "Pardon? What do you mean '_someone like_' Derek Hale?"

"Oh, dama de la magia…" She sighed shaking her head back and forth.

"No, really… would you like to explain that accusation further. Because the way I see it, it doesn't matter if you're a werewolf, a banshee, an imperium or human… it's not what you are that defines a person, it's their actions. And from where I'm sitting… the Calaveras are the monsters, not us." Avery said, her anger growing as she rose to her feet and placed both hands on the desk in front of her.

Her every moment, every word and action laced with anger and disgust as Araya stared back at her with an amused expression.

"Derek is one of us, and we're not leaving without him… so I suggest you just take the money and give us what we want. Because we don't like to lose." Avery continued, causing Stiles and Lydia to exchange looks in the seats behind her.

Picking up his two-way radio, Severo checked in the guards at each entrance. The hunters confidence growing with each successful check in, but when the guard on the north door didn't respond the room fell silent.

He spoke in Spanish into the microphone, ordering the guard to answer but instead the teens were met by a voice they all knew as Scott said, "Stiles, take 10 off the table."

With a smug expression, Lydia reasoned, "Maybe you should just take the deal…"

Araya focused her attention on the red-head with a chilling smile as she said, "While I'm keen to follow the warning of a banshee, I'm going to have to decline."

"Your little knives… and your guns, don't scare us okay? You're down to $40,000 for Derek now, just be smart about this. Take the deal." Avery asserted as she leaned down, resting her hands on the desk with an unwavering, cold stare.

Standing up and mimicking Avery's posture over the desk she glanced to the side and said, "Severo, show them how the Calaveras negotiate."

Raising the two way radio to his mouth, he spoke in a hushed tone but just loud enough she could make out one word; wolfsbane.

But before she could move or have time to try and warn her friends downstairs, she was hit with something on the back of her head and was immediately knocked unconscious.

She didn't even hear Lydia screaming or see Stiles trying to fight to get to his friends as the hunters dragged him from the room and slammed the door, locking the two girls in it alone.

"Avery!" Lydia yelled as she raced to her friend and dropped to the floor next to her, shaking her and trying to get her to wake up.

When it didn't work, she jumped to her feet and tried to get out of the door to find her friends for help, but the door wouldn't budge.

She took a step back, a feeling of helplessness rising in her stomach as she wondered why they'd taken Stiles away and what their plans were going to be for Scott and the rest of their friends.

Finally, she wondered why they kept her and Avery in that room. With that unsettling thought she swallowed hard and went back over to her blonde friend, desperately trying to wake her up before the hunters returned.

**~()~**

Several minutes later, Teagan pulled her cell phone out to check the time. By now, Stiles, Lydia and Avery should be inside with them and negotiating with the Calaveras. She never saw them walk in, but there again, she hadn't seen Scott, Kira or Malia yet either, but she knew they had to be in there. She knew everyone would stick with the plan, but even knowing that, not knowing where everyone was, made her extremely nervous.

"Have you seen Avery and the others come in yet?" Teagan asked, as she glanced over at Isaac; who was glancing around the club trying to keep an eye on everything that was going on around them.

Isaac nodded his head, as he said,"They came in about five minutes ago. They went over to the bar, then were led upstairs."

"How did I miss this?" Teagan wondered out loud.

"Probably too busy checking me out." Isaac said, as he shot her a grin.

"You think I've been checking you out?" Teagan asked, as she raised her eyebrows at him.

"I know you have. I've felt your eyes on me every few minutes and your heart will begin to race." He said, teasing her. "Plus you do that thing you always do when you want me to grab your hand. You keep scooting closer to me and brushing your hand against mine." He added, as he reached out lightly run his fingers against the back of her hand.

Just something as simple as that made her stomach flutter and made her crave more from him. She licked her bottom lip and felt her eyes widen, as he moved his hand to her leg, his finger tips lightly grazing her outer thigh, causing goosebumps where ever he touched.

"And I bet right now you are doing that other cute thing that you do." He added. He glanced over at her from the corner of his eyes with a grin on his face, happy to see the effect he has on her. He leaned toward her to softly speak in her ear, as he said,"That thing you do when you want me to kiss you so badly. You lick your lips, then leave them parted just a little bit, as you look up at me with those wide eyes. You look at me like you can't breathe unless I kiss you right now."

He turned to face her, seeing that she was doing exactly what he just described. He laid his hands on either side of her neck, his thumbs slowly caressing her skin, as he asking,"Am I right?"

Teagan felt her heart beating in her chest and just like he said, she felt like she couldn't breathe unless he kissed her. She couldn't help herself as she stuck her tongue out to lick her bottom lip again, which only caused him to grin more when he saw her do it.

He leaned closer to her, his lips inches from hers, as he whispered,"Do you want me to kiss you right now?"

Teagan pressed her body against his, as she slowly nodded her head. With a smile still on his face, he began to close the gap between them, but before his lips could touch hers, he quickly pulled back, as he said,"Whoa, wait, forgot I can't do that."

"Wh-What?" Teagan breathed out, as she looked up at him with a confused and flushed face.

"Remember no touching or kissing, its distracting?" Isaac said, as he smiled at her. When she shot him a dirty look, he shrugged innocently as he said,"What? I didn't make the rules, babe, you did."

"You are such a tease." Teagan mumbled, as she folded her arms across her chest. She couldn't believe she just fell for his trick. If this was the game he wanted to play, then she definitely needed to get him back. He needed to know how it felt to be completely turned on, then turned away.

"So on a scale of one to ten... how turned on are you right now?" Isaac teased, as he leaned down to speak in her ear.

"I'm going to kick your ass." Teagan threatened, as she snapped her head to the side to look at him.

Isaac smiled, feeling very pleased with himself, as he said,"That bad, huh?"

Teagan held up her hand, as she said,"I'm not talking to you."

Isaac laughed as he looked back over at the crowd, trying to spot the others. It had been awhile since he saw Scott or Kira, but he could see Malia on the dance floor. He and Teagan stood silently side by side for a few minutes, until she cleared her throat and spoke up.

"Have the others come down stairs yet?"

"No. They must still be up there talking." Isaac said.

"Can you hear them?" She questioned.

"Not over this music." Isaac answered. "But whatever is going on up there, they are aware of us down here."

"What do you mean?" Teagan asked.

"On the count of three, look up at the balcony on your right." Isaac said.

She waited a couple of seconds, then looked up in the area he told her to, seeing a man with a walkie-talkie looking around the dance floor, as if he was searching for someone, and if she had to guess it was them.

She looked back at Isaac, as she stated,"Hunters."

Isaac nodded his head, as he said,"And there are several more circling around down here."

"What should we do?" Teagan asked.

"What we've been doing. Act normal and blend in." Isaac said.

Teagan nodded her head, as she glanced around trying to spot more hunters. When she saw two heading for her and Isaac, she grabbed the front of his shirt, turning him toward her and pressing her lips against his, as the two hunters walked passed them; hoping to them they would appear as just a normal couple making out.

Isaac tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling her face closer to his as he deepened the kiss. He knew they needed to stay on task, but teasing her earlier was just as hard for him as it was for her, and now that he was kissing her, he honestly didn't want to stop.

He felt her slip a hand under his shirt, running her nails across his stomach, causing him to groan in her mouth. She grabbed the waistband of his pants, pulling him closer to her, as she rubbed her body against his, but before he could enjoy the feel of her against him too much, she quickly pulled back causing him to groan out in frustration.

"Oops, can't do that remember?" She teased, as she grinned at him, knowing she got him back for teasing her earlier.

"Okay, I guess I deserved that from earlier, but we're even now, okay? No more teasing?" He suggested.

"No more teasing." Teagan said, as she shot him an innocent look; one he wasn't fully sure he believed or not.

Isaac shook his head at her, as he glanced over her shoulder, seeing where the hunters from earlier had went. When he saw them began to walk back toward them again, he said,"Oh no, they're coming back."

"We need to move." Teagan said, as she glanced around, trying to figure out where they should go. When her eyes landed on the dance floor, she reached out to grab Isaac's arm, as she said,"Come on."

"I thought we said no more teasing." Isaac pointed out, as she continued to led him out onto the dance floor.

"This isn't teasing, it's dancing." Teagan argued.

"Yeah, but I know the way you dance." Isaac said back.

Teagan shrugged her shoulder, as she said,"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just having a innocent dance with my boyfriend."

"Innocent or not, you turn me on and you know it." Isaac pointed out, as he laid a hand on the small of her back, bringing her closer to him.

"Don't complain, you know you love it." Teagan stated, as she smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, moving her hips to the beat of the music.

"Trust me, I wasn't complaining." Isaac said back with a smile, as he ran his hand up her bare back, like he couldn't get enough of her smooth skin.

The two couldn't keep their eyes off of each other, as they dancing closely together, among the crowd. Teagan threw her head back, enjoying the music, then closed her eyes with a groan when she felt Isaac's lips against her neck, as he lightly sucked on her skin.

She rolled her head to the side, giving him better access, as she dug her nails into his shoulders to help hold herself up.

"You're not playing fair." She breathed out in his ear, before she rubbed herself against the most sensitive part of his body.

Isaac quietly groaned against her skin, as he added,"You're not either."

She pulled back to look at him and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could something caught her attention from over his shoulder. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion, then began to chuckled at what she saw.

"What?" Isaac asked, as he turned his head to see what she was looking at, and saw Malia dancing with Kira, or at least trying to, the latter was mostly just moving around awkwardly. "What are they doing?" He asked.

"Dancing." Teagan answered. She tilted her head to the side, as she added,"Or at least I think that is what they are doing."

Teagan grabbed the front of Isaac's shirt, turning more to face them. When the two girls, looked over at the couple, Teagan nodded her head at them, then began to move her hips to the music, showing Kira what to do.

Every move that Teagan did, Kira would copy it until she began to get into the rhythm and was able to move along with the music on her own. Teagan smiled as she saw the two girls dancing together and having fun. She turned her attention back to Isaac, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, stepping closer to him.

Isaac smiled at her, as he ran his hand across her back, then over to her side, wanting to touch as much of her as he could. His smile widen when she saw her lick her bottom lip, as she looked up at him.

He laid his other hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, as he leaned forward to kiss her the way he had wanted to kiss her since they walked into the building, but before his lips could touch hers, he saw movement from behind her, it was one of the hunters and he had a gun in his hand.

Isaac grabbed her arm and lifted it above their heads, as he spun her around to face the hunter, her back facing him. As the hunter got closer to them, Teagan leaned back against Isaac, throwing out her leg to kick him in the stomach. While he was bent over in pain, she threw out her leg again to knock the gun out of his hand.

Seeing that Teagan had everything under control, Isaac quickly turned around when he heard someone approaching them, and saw that it was another hunter. He felt his eyes flash yellow as he snarled at the man, before the two began to fight.

Teagan slipped a pair of glow in the dark brass knuckles from her pants pocket and slide them on her hands, before she began to punch the hunter again. After ducking and dodging his fist, she was able to throw out a few more punches before knocking him to the ground. She spun around and grinned when she saw that Isaac had knocked the other hunter out. They nodded at each other, letting the other one know they were okay.

From the corner of their eye, they saw Malia and Kira taking out two other hunters. When they saw another hunter planning to go after the two girls, they were going to rush over and help, until they saw Scott grab the man and threw him against a wall.

Scott nodded his head at his pack, checking to make sure everyone was okay and telling them to follow him. The group made their way across the dance floor and found a door tucked off to the side.

Scott glanced back at his friends, then opened the door and walked into a dimly lit hallway. The girls walked in after; Kira, Malia, then Teagan, in that order, with Isaac walking in behind his girlfriend.

The group made their way down the hall, turning a corner and coming across another long hallway. They were half-way down the hall when they saw smoke begin to rise from under a door near them.

Teagan reached out from behind her, grabbing on to Isaac's shirt, as she asked,"What is that?"

Isaac open his mouth to say something, but before he could say a word, he began to cough, the smoke getting to him. Teagan snapped her head to look at him, a concern look on her face, as he went down to his knees.

"Isaac?" She called out, as she went down with him. She ran a hand up and down his back, trying to comfort him, but became even more worried the more the coughed.

Scott looked up, seeing smoke pouring out of all the vents near the ceiling. Suddenly realizing what it was, he yelled out,"Wolfsbane. It's wolfsbane!"

Teagan stayed by Isaac's side, and heard Scott telling Kira to run. She turned her heard toward Isaac, as he coughed out her name, getting her attention.

"Teagan, go." Isaac said in between coughs.

"No! I'm not leaving you, Isaac. It's you and me, remember?" Teagan said, arguing with him.

Isaac shook his head, feeling himself growing faint. He wasn't sure how much longer he could stay conscious, but he wanted to make sure she was okay before he blacked out.

His eyes flashed as he growled out,"Go! Now!" Before shoving her away from him.

Teagan's eyes widen in surprise, as she quickly stood up. She felt someone grab her arm, and turned her head, seeing through the smoke that it was Kira who grabbed her. The two began to run down the hall until a hunter stepped in front of them stopping them.

Kira grabbed her glow stick nunchaku, getting ready to fight him, but before she could make a move, he hit her in the head with the butt of a shotgun, knocking her out.

After seeing her friends and boyfriend passing out, Teagan groaned out angrily before she rushed toward the man and began to swing her arm to punch him, which was hard to do in all the smoke since she couldn't see where he was.

She felt someone grab her from behind and toss her down to the floor. She glanced up, seeing another hunter standing above her. She tried to quickly jump up from the floor, but before she could, the man grabbed a handful of her hair then slammed her head against the floor, knocking her out cold.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Now were getting into the action at the beginning of season 4! ^_^ Thank you all for reading and as always we'd really appreciate it if you'd take the time to leave a review and let us know you're reading.**


	5. Turn For The Worst

**Chapter Five – Turn For The Worst**

* * *

><p>Teagan didn't know how long she was out for but when she began to come to and felt someone holding her she was worried for a minute that one of the hunters had her pinned down. She shuffled around, trying to get away, as she whimpered out until she heard Isaac speak up, telling her it was okay; making her realize it was him that was holding her and she was safe.<p>

"Isaac?" Teagan breathed out, as she opened her eyes, seeing that she was laying in his lap on the floor. They weren't in the hallway anymore though, they were in a dark and dirty restroom.

"Shh, it's okay." Isaac said, as he lowered her back down to his lap when she tried to sit up. He wasn't sure how badly she was hurt. The last thing he saw was hunter slamming her head against the floor before he blacked out from the wolfs bane he'd ingested.

"Where are we? Is-Is everyone okay?" Teagan asked as she reached up to touch the side of her head; feeling the dried blood from the wound and hissed out in pain.

Isaac grabbed her hand, removing it from her head, as held on tight to it, trying to draw out some of the pain she was feeling. With his other hand, he brushed her hair out of her face, as he glanced over at the other side of the room; where Malia and Stiles were standing side by side against the wall.

In the middle of the room, Scott was laying on the disgusting floor while Kira stood over him, waiting for him to wake up. The longer he was out, the more anxious everyone was. The trip had definitely taken a turn for the worst.

"Isaac, is everyone okay?" Teagan asked him again when he didn't answer. The longer he was silent, the more worried she became for all of her friends.

He opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, they heard Kira call out,"He's awake. Guys, he's awake."

Malia and Stiles rushed over to stand with Kira, as Scott opened his eyes; seeing his friends standing above him. As Stiles and the others helped Scott to sit up, Isaac helped Teagan sit up, then wrapped his arm around her to pull her back to rest against his chest so she could see what was going on better.

"They don't have him. They don't have Derek." Scott stated, as he glanced around looking at his friends.

"We know. But right now, they've got Lydia." Kira said.

Stiles cleared his throat, then glanced over at Teagan for a moment, knowing she wasn't going to like what he was about to say. "They got Avery too." He added.

"What?" Teagan breathed out as she tried to stand up, but Isaac kept his arm around her and tried to calm her down. "How did they get Lydia and Avery?" She questioned.

"What do they want with them?" Scott added as he looked at the others, but no one had an answer for him.

None of them knew why they needed a banshee or an imperium. All they did know is they needed a way out of there. They needed to save Avery and Lydia. They still needed to find Derek somehow and then they needed to get the hell out of Mexico before anything else could go wrong.

**~()~**

It was early morning when Lydia and Avery were led outside of the building by two male hunters, each girl had a gun pointed at them.

Avery squinted in the morning sun as she looked around and spotted Araya sitting at a table, where she offered a smile and waved the girls over to her.

"Should we try and run?" Lydia whispered, huddling close to her friends side.

"We can't." Avery said glancing around as she said, "Look around, damn neared every person out here has a gun… plus we don't know what they've done with our friends."

Lydia nodded and resisted the urge to point out that from the beginning she'd thought this was a stupid plan and would wind up getting them all killed.

As the teenager sat down across from the older woman, Araya motioned to the large platter of food on the table and asked, "Hungry?"

"Where are our friends?" Avery cut right to the point and she could feel Lydia's eyes on her as she spoke.

"They're alive." Araya calmly responded as she selected a ripe orange from the platter and picked a knife up from her plate as she continued, "I have to admit, I don't have much experience with banshees."

"That makes two of us, since I don't have much experience being one." Lydia breathed out as she looked around.

"I have a feeling you underestimate your abilities, Lydia." Araya continued, looking down to the knife in her hand.

"Trust me… you'd have better luck with tarot cards." The redhead asserted.

"Hmm, lets find out." Motioning to a few of the men standing guard near Araya asked, "Tell me, which one of these men Is about to die?"

As she started to peen the orange she questioned, "So how exactly does it work?" Her gaze fell on Lydia as she continued, "Do you need to touch them? Maybe I give you something they own."

Laying the knife and orange down on the plate she continued, "Or is it just a feeling?"

"I don't know." Lydia admitted, a hopeless expression fell over her features as she looked around.

"Just how close to death do they have to be before a banshee knows?"

"She doesn't know, okay!" Avery asserted scooting closer to Lydia as she watched the hunter run a finger down the dull side of the blade.

"I think maybe she does, or possibly even you do." Araya said looking between the girls, "Maybe her abilities are stronger in the presence of an emissary."

Both girls stared at her with unwavering, displeased expressions as she continued, "No? Well, I think we all know you're not just an emissary, dama de la magia."

Their table fell silent the only sound was a small clinking noise of Araya tapping her finger against the knife causing it to clink on the glass dish next to the orange.

"Just how close to death to they have to be, mija?"

In Lydia's head the glass pinging noise got louder and louder until a chill ran up her spine and she looked over just in time to see Araya throw the knife expertly stabbing one of her hunters in the heart.

Lydia jumped out of her seat and screamed, as the man dropped to his knees then slowly crumpled over onto the floor.

Other people on the street looked over to see what the commotion was about, but once they spotted Araya, they went back to minding their own business –the all knew better than to have a feud with the Calaveras.

"What did you do that for?" Lydia frantically gasped with a hand over her racing heart.

Avery stood from her own seat and backed up protectively in front of her frightened red-headed friend, as Araya answered her question, "He stole from me."

"What do you want from us?" Avery hissed as she could hear Lydia gasping for air behind her.

"Right now?" Araya asked with raised brows, "I want to know about Scott McCall, I want to know what kind of alpha he really is."

**~()~**

As soon as his strength returned, Scott was on his feet and rushed over to the large metal door. There was no handle or anything to grab, forcing him to slide his fingers between the cracks and try to force it open. He pulled as hard as he could, but the door wouldn't budge, they were completely stuck in the room until someone from the outside could open the door.

"Malia and I both tried to open the door." Isaac said. "Together and separately. It won't open."

"We already looked for another way out." Kira stated. When she saw Scott looking at a set of claw marks by the door, she added, "I think a lot of people have."

"I say when that door opens again, we take out whoever's standing in the way and run for it." Malia suggested, as she leaned back against one of the metal columns in the middle of the room.

"What about Lydia?" Kira asked.

"And Avery." Teagan added. She had no plans of leaving either one of her friends behind.

"What about them?" Malia asked, not understanding why they should wait for them.

"We're not leaving without them." Scott said, as he walked back over to the group.

"Why not?" Malia questioned, with a confused look still on her face.

"Because we don't leave without people. Remember, we talked about this? Rules of the wild kingdom don't apply to friends." Stiles explained, as he walked over to her, causing her to lower her head in shame.

She was trying really hard to remember the things they taught her. In her opinion things were a lot easier when she was living in the woods alone. As a human there were too many things to remember, so many rules, but she did like being around Stiles and the others. With them she didn't feel so alone like she used to.

"Is that what you would do as a coyote, leave her for dead?" Kira asked, pulling Malia from her thoughts.

"If she was weak and injured, yeah." Malia answered honestly.

"What about me then?" Teagan asked. She lightly touched the side of her head, as she added, "I'm injured. Would you just leave me behind?"

"No." Malia said, as she shook her head, causing Teagan to smile; making her think Malia actually remembered something they taught her, until the former coyote spoke up again.

"I would eat you. Put you out of your misery. Then I'd leave."

"That was almost right." Isaac said, as he ran his fingertips up and down Teagan's arm to comfort her.

"Mmm. Believe it or not, that's progress." Stiles stated, as he pointed at Malia.

"All right, guys, we're not dead yet." Scott spoke up, getting everyone's attention. "And that means Araya wants something." He added.

"But if the Calaveras don't know where Derek is, that means they didn't take him from the loft. Right?" Kira questioned.

"Maybe he left on his own." Stiles suggested.

"Or maybe someone else got to him." Isaac added, feeling even more worried about his former alpha. They were so sure the Calaveras had Derek, but if not; then who the hell did.

"What happened or who has him isn't really that important right now." Teagan stated. She grabbed on to Isaac's arm, wanting him to help her stand up from the floor. Once they were both on their feet, he rested his hands on her hips when she saw her stumble a little. She ignored the dizziness and blew out a breath as she added, "What is important is getting the hell out of here and saving our friends. We can figure out the what's and the how's later."

"She's right. We have to get out of here somehow." Isaac spoke up, siding with his girlfriend. "We can't just sit here and wait for them to pick us off one by one."

"Okay, well, what's your idea?" Stiles said, as he looked over at the beta. Before Isaac could answer, he continued sarcastically, "Cause I'm not hearing any, but please, Isaac, tell us, how are we going to get out of a locked metal door?"

"We're not." Isaac said, as he shot him a look. He nodded his head over toward Malia, as he continued, "But I think she was on to something. There are six of us. I say once that door opens again, if we all attack at once, we can at least get out of this room."

"What about Avery and Lydia?" Kira asked.

"We can find them once we are out of here." Isaac answered.

"I don't know." Scott said nervously. He wanted out of there just as bad as the others, but didn't want to risk anyone else getting hurt. "We don't know how many hunters are out there."

"He's right." Stiles said, as he nodded his head. "There could literally be hundreds out there. What if one of them radios another one and hurts Lydia and Avery before we can find them?"

"I doubt there is that many out there." Isaac argued. "I've been keeping watch around the club all night and there was not hundreds of them."

"Okay maybe there are not hundreds but there are definitely a lot more than six." Stiles pointed out.

"Are you saying you can't handle a few hunters?" Isaac questioned, as he folded his arms across his chest as he stared at Stiles.

"Okay, you two, this is not solving anything." Teagan said, interrupting them.

"What do you think we should do then?" Kira asked, as she looked over at Teagan.

"Me?" Teagan questioned, as she pointed to herself and noticed they were all looking at her. She knew in the hunting world, the women were the leaders, but Scott was their alpha. He was the leader of their pack.

Teagan opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say a word, they heard the door slide open, causing them all to turn around to saw three men walking into the room.

Isaac stepped in front of Teagan, as he snarled at them, ready to fight. Teagan reached out to grab his arm, but was too late as he rushed across the room and swung his arm at one of the men, trying to hit him, but he quickly blocked it and punched back, hitting Isaac across the face.

Teagan released an angry breath, then raced over toward them. From the corner of her eye, she saw Scott and Kira going toward another guy, then heard Malia growl preparing to go after the third guy.

Before any of them could take another step, one of the men pulled out a Taser stick and tased Isaac, causing him to fall to the ground with a painful groan before blacking out.

When one of the other men saw Teagan make a move, he held a gun on Isaac as the man with the Taser stick said, "Move one muscle and we fill him with wolfs bane bullets."

After seeing her nod her head in understanding and lift her hands, showing them she wasn't moving, he looked over at Scott and Kira, as he said, "You two, come with us."

"Scott..." Stiles called out, not wanting his friend to leave. He was too scared about what they would do to him and Kira.

"It's okay." Scott said, as he looked over at Stiles and Malia. He glanced over at Teagan as he added, "It's going to be okay." Trying to let them all know he would get them out of this somehow. Somehow they would all walk out of this alive. They were not losing anyone else.

Scott turned his head to look at Kira, seeing the scared look on her face, and gave her a small nod, telling her to follow him. The others watched with bated breath as Scott and Kira left the room with the hunters.

As soon as the door slid closed, Teagan fell on the ground beside Isaac. She softly said his name, pleading with him to wake up as she shook his shoulder. When nothing happened, she let out a pained groan, as she rested her head on his chest, hearing his heart slowly beat.

"Wake up. You have to wake up." She whispered. She raised her head to look at him, as she reached up to lightly touch his face, and whispered, "It's you and me."

She snapped her head up when she felt someone lay a hand on her shoulder and saw it was Stiles. He gave it a squeeze as he said, "He'll wake up."

"I know." Teagan said, as tears filled her eyes. She turned her head back to look at Isaac, as she continued, "He always comes back to me."

**~()~**

As Lydia and Avery were led down a hallway in the Calaveras' building someone opened a door up ahead and soon they were both roughly pulled into the room to see Scott chained to a metal chair.

Avery's eyes widened at the site and Lydia breathed, "Oh god…"

"Let them go!" Scott pleaded the second he saw his friends. Pulling on the chains he pointed out, "Look you've got me! Just let the others go!"

As they chained both girls down to metal chairs of their own, Avery knew she could fight back but she also didn't know where anyone else was and it was possible that her fighting back could mean the death of her friends. So she gritted her teeth and pinned her eyes shut as they placed the metal cuffs around her legs and wrists.

Hearing a noise her eyes popped open and she looked up to see Severo bringing Kira into the room, her friends face was contorted with terror and shock as she saw them all chained down to the chairs.

Grabbing Kira's wrist he forced her hand down onto a dial of a machine, and Avery looked down seeing wires running from the machines to each of their metal chairs. Swallowing hard and feeling sick to her stomach Avery pleaded, "What is it you want… more money? Because I can get it… the Dukate family is old money, I can get a lot more than $50,000!"

"This isn't about money." Araya said with an amused expression.

"Let me explain what's about to happen." Severo spoke up as he surveyed the teenagers.

Pointing to Kira he said, "This one, the fox… has an immunity to electricity so she's going to turn the dial on the alpha."

"I won't!" Kira argued, squirming against his tight hold on her arm.

"If she doesn't…" He continued, "I'll turn one of these two dials on either the emissary or the banshee."

Tears stung Kira's eyes as she shook her head back and forth.

Scott looked over to Lydia and Avery, wishing he could do something to get his friends out of there, to get them to safety but he couldn't.

"No, no, no!" Kira yelled, fighting against Severo as he forced her hand back on the dial for Scott's chair.

"Think about it… one of you friends has the power to heal, the others… not so much." His Spanish accent was thick as he spoke to her.

"What is this, some kind of sadistic game?" Avery snapped feeling more panicked by the second as sweat beaded across her forehead.

"Why are you doing this?" Scott yelled at the same time, as he looked around the ornate wooden paneling on the fire place.

Ignoring Avery, Araya walked over to face Scott and she said, "This is a test, Lobito, lets see if you pass. We're going to ask some questions, you answer nobody gets hurt. If you don't answer we turn up the dial."

Scott swallowed hard and looked over to his friends both of them looking just as terrified as he was.

Hearing Kira's heart starting to race even faster than before Scott looked at her and said, "Just do what they say… whatever they want. I can take it."

"So." Araya said, "We don't know where Derek is…"

But Avery cut her off, "You're a damn liar! I found your bullet shells in his loft… bullets with the Calaveras mark! I also know that months ago you had both Derek and Peter Hale strung up for torture!"

"I don't know where he is." She asserted eyeing the blonde teenager clearly not happy she'd been researching them. "But I want to find him as well."

Walking over she leaned down her face close to Avery's as she sternly said, "You know who took him."

Her face twisted on confused and Avery asked, "What?"

Clicking her tongue Araya shook her head back and forth at her words before she tapped the side of the blondes head and said, "It's up here… you know who took him."

"She doesn't know anything!" Scott loudly defended.

With a sigh the hunter said, "That doesn't sound like an answer to me." She looked over to where Severo and Kira were standing next to the dials.

Seeing what was about to happen Lydia squeaked out, "She's telling the truth! We don't know where Derek is, why do you think we came here?"

"Kira." Araya said, ordering her to turn on the electricity to Scott.

"No!" Teenager gasped, she couldn't bring herself to hurt him.

"Should we start with the banshee then?" Araya said loudly, causing everyone to flinch.

Scott started to protest but then the hunters attention was drawn over to where Avery was shooting daggers with her eyes and Araya called out, "No, we'll start with the emissary."

"No!" Scott yelled, more frantic than before as he fought against his chains.

"It's okay." Avery said, her tone confident despite the fact that her entire body was trembling with fear, "There's no reasoning with these… animals."

Kira's eyes widened as she looked over to her blonde friend, not sure how she seemed so calm when she was being threatened with possible electrocution.

"Animals?" Araya asked with a laugh, "Take a look at the company you keep, dama de la magia."

"You're trying to set this up like it's our fault… wanting Kira to hurt Scott or else she has mine or Lydia's death on her hands, when we both know that you're going to do what you want anyways." Avery continued to argue, despite Scott yelling at her to just be quiet and not make things any worse.

"Severo, yes… let's start with the pistol mouthed emissary." Araya instructed him.

With a defiant smirk Avery blocked out Scott and Lydia's protests as she looked her dead in the eyes and said, "You do what you gotta do, bitch."

The end of her sentence was cut off but a loud, shrill, agonized scream rushing from her mouth as the electrical currents flowed through her body shocking her system over and over for what felt like an eternity until finally the pain stopped.

Her body doubled over in the chair and she gagged from the pain she'd been in, thinking for sure she was going to throw up but she didn't.

When she was finally strong enough to raise her head she looked over to see Lydia had some tears running her down her cheeks and Scott was staring at her with a horrified and pained expression.

"I'll ask again, where is Derek Hale?" Araya yelled at them.

Fighting against the chains Lydia shrieked, "We don't know!"

The hunter looked over at Kira who shook her head back and forth, but Scott quickly said, "Kira, it's okay… I can take it, I can heal they can't."

"Let's start with one." The hunter instructed the kitsune.

With tears in her eyes, Kira did as she was told and turned the dial up to one. Almost immediately Scott yelled out in pain, as he gripped onto the chair and metal sparked against his skin.

"Tell me, who actually has Derek!" Araya's voice roared through the room.

Scott gripped onto the chair and tried to hold in his pained sounds, knowing it was hurting Kira to have to do that to him.

"Who actually had a reason? A vendetta against the Hales?" the hunter continued her questioning towards Scott but her gaze was heavy on Avery who weakly stared back at her.

"I don't know…" Scott groaned.

"Ah! You don't know because you haven't figured it out yet. So think! Who could have taken him?" She yelled.

As Severo instructed Kira to turn the dial up even farther, Scott agreed knowing it was either him or his friends. As more electricity flowed through the alpha's body he shook uncontrollably and yelled out, not able to keep his agonized cries in.

"Who had the power!" Araya shouted at them, "The power of the shape shifter?"

Lydia turned her head not able to watch her friend suffer and tears started to trickle down Kira's face, as Scott yelled, "I don't know!"

"Someone could have turned without you knowing! Turned, but not by a bite!" The hunters voice rang out in the room.

Scott's voice now had a growl to it, as the veins stood out in his neck and forehead, "I don't know!"

Marching over, the hunter pushed Kira out of the way and turned the dial all the way up, causing every light in the building to flicker rapidly and Scott's pained screams grew.

Lydia pinned her eyes shut and Avery found her strength again as she screamed and pleaded for the hunter to stop, but Araya yelled, "Who would have a vendetta against the Hales?"

Scott's eyes glowed red and his fangs slid out as he tilted his head back and let out a deafening roar, throwing his hands up in the air and breaking the metal restraints with ease.

Avery's mouth was dry and her heart beat rapidly inside her chest as she'd came to the same conclusion the alpha had.

"Say it!" Araya instructed them, "Say the name!"

Scott breathed heavily as he weakly leaned forward and grabbed onto the chair fighting for air, but the hunter was unrelenting as she repeated, "Say the name!"

"Kate." Avery loudly called out, just wanting it all to end.

It seemed impossible, the idea of Kate Argent –her worst nightmare to be alive. But she was quickly learning from everything that they'd all been through; nothing was impossible. And if there was one lesson she'd learned from all the horror movies she grew up watching it was that the enemy never dies, evil always came back to life.

**~()~**

Several minutes later, Teagan was sitting in the floor; with Isaac's head resting in her lap. She was running her fingers through his hair, waiting for the electric shock from earlier to wear off and for him to wake up. She didn't know how long he would be out for, but she wished he would wake up soon. She couldn't help but think of the last time he was shocked badly, in the hospital parking lot, the time she thought she would lose him.

She reached up to wipe a tear from her eye, then glanced over at Stiles; who was pacing in front of Malia, trying to get her to concentrate enough to hear what was going on with Scott and Kira, or even try to locate Avery and Lydia, just anything.

All he knew was his friends were being taken two by two and that didn't sit well with him. They needed to find everyone and get the hell out of there.

"Do you hear them? Can you hear Scott? Can you hear Kira, Avery, Lydia, anybody? What are they saying?" Stiles asked, firing off one question right after another one.

"I... I can't. I can't concentrate. I... There's too many sounds and voices." Malia said, as she shook her head. She hated that she couldn't help, she didn't want to let any of them down.

"Okay. It's okay. Well, just breathe. Breathe with me, all right?" Stiles said, as he kneeled down in front of her. "You practiced this with Scott before, remember?"

"I'm trying." Malia said. She looked around Stiles to look at Teagan, as she added, "I'm really trying."

"We know. You're doing great, Malia." Teagan said. "Just concentrate."

"Right. Hey, just focus on something." Stiles added. He pointed to his face, as he continued, "Here, look at my eyes. Very good. Just focus on the sound of my voice. All you have to do is try to concentrate. Concentrate-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Malia leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, shutting him up with a kiss.

Teagan softly smiled, as she looked down at Isaac. She brushed a curl off of his forehead and lightly touched his cheek. Her eyes widen in surprise when she saw him shift around before his eyelids began to flutter.

"Isaac." She whispered, then began to smile when his eyes open and he looked up at her.

"Hey..." Isaac croaked out. He reached up, tangling his fingers in her hair, as he gave her a small smile. "I guess going up against them was a bad idea." He mumbled.

"It wasn't a bad idea." Teagan began to say, as she shook her head. "It's just not one of your best ideas." She said with a small chuckle.

"I've only had one good idea my whole life and I'm looking at her." Isaac said, as he pulled her down toward him, pressing his lips against hers for a tender kiss.

Teagan quickly raised her head when they saw the lights overhead flickering. She looked over at Malia, seeing if she heard what was going on, and saw the other girl looking back at her with wide eyes.

"What? What's wrong?" Teagan asked. She turned her head back to look at Isaac; who had sat up and was sitting beside her. She wanted him to tell her what is wrong, but he was looking at Malia and shaking his head. Telling her not to say a word.

"What is it? Someone tell me!" Teagan snapped.

"Avery." Malia said, as she lowered her eyebrows in concern.

"Avery what?" Teagan asked, feeling her heart racing.

"They're asking them questions and if they don't like the answers, they are forcing Kira to turn a dial." Malia began to say. "It electrocutes them and..."

"And what?" Teagan questioned.

"They just turned the dial on Avery." Isaac softly said, as he pulled her toward him, trying to comfort her. He kissed the side of her head and closed his eyes with a pained look on his face, when he heard how much pain Avery was in.

"Oh my God." Teagan breathed out, as she placed a hand over her mouth.

Several minutes later, when they saw the lights flicker again, Malia looked at Stiles, a fearful look on her face, as she said, "They're killing him."

Stiles glanced over at Teagan, seeing her face bury in Isaac's shirt. He knew how she was feeling, they were all worried about their friends.

"Is he-Is he okay?" Stiles questioned, as he turned back to look at Malia.

Malia nodded her head, as she said, "They're asking him who could have taken Derek."

"So they do know who has Derek." Teagan spoke up.

"For some reason they want him to say it." Malia said. She listened for a few more minutes, then lowered her eyebrows in confusion, as she said, "Avery knows her. I hear her heart pounding from here."

"What?" Teagan asked, confused. She couldn't figure out how Avery would know who could have taken Derek, or who would scare her enough to make her heart race.

"It's someone named Kate." Malia said.

"No... No. Not possible." Teagan said, as she quickly stood up from the floor. "It can't be Kate. You must have heard her wrong. It can't be-"

"Babe..." Isaac softly said, interrupting her as he stood up, laying his hands on her shoulders. When she turned her head to look at him, she knew from the look on his face that Malia was right.

"But how?" Teagan breathed out, feeling like the air had left her lungs. This couldn't be happening. Kate could not be back. No wonder Avery was scared, her worst nightmare was alive.

"Why? Who... who's Kate?" Malia asked confused.

Stiles turned to look at her, a worried look on his face, as he said,"She's a hunter. An Argent."

"She's a crazy bitch." Teagan added, as she folded her arms across her chest. "A crazy bitch who almost killed my best friend."

**~()~**

"I have to admit…" Lydia said as she leaned against Stiles' jeep and looked at her friends, "I'm a little surprised we're making it out of here alive."

Teagan glanced over at her as she mumbled under her breath, "We're not out of Mexico yet."

"Maybe it's only up from here?" Kira optimistically offered as she took her phone from the box one of the Calaveras was holding out to the group containing all of their phones.

Just as he walked up to Isaac and Teagan, she reached in to grab her phone when the hunter sighed heavily at the sound of a ringing phone.

"Is that mine?" Isaac asked, also reaching into the box.

Teagan glanced at him and questioned, "Do you not know your own ringtone? It's Avery's phone."

Isaac shrugged as he tucked his phone into his pocket.

"Well, whoever's phone it is… it's been going nonstop for over an hour." The hunter explained.

Teagan glanced around thinking all of their friends were there and then down to see Avery had some missed calls and texts from her dad and a frown spread over her lips. For the first time in her best friend's life her dad was really making an effort to be there for his daughter, and she'd taken off to Mexico after Derek.

She shook her head, thinking that even though this situation wasn't Derek's fault –he was still managing to screw up the good things in her friend's life.

Teagan knew Avery needed stability after everything she'd been through, she needed a support system and to surround herself with people who wanted nothing but the best for her. And even though she knew Derek still cared about Avery, she also knew his track record of leaving her best friend broken and feeling like she wasn't important enough –which was the last thing the blonde needed right now.

Isaac watched Araya as she walked out of the building with Scott and Avery, but stopped them before they joined up with the rest of their friends as Teagan continued to look down to see her friend's phone.

Putting in her friends password she opened up the texts her eyebrows raising as she saw several outgoing calls from Avery's phone to Derek, along with the texts she'd sent him. She knew that Avery had tried to reach him a few times but she had no idea her friend had been trying so hard to get him to talk to her.

Teagan raised her head to see Avery and Scott deep in conversation with Araya, then glanced from side to side to make sure no one was watching her before she opened the texts and saw Avery had texted Derek to meet her for dinner, then the brunette's face fell as she realized Avery must have sat in the restaurant waiting on Derek who never showed.

With a small gasp Teagan looked across the dirt road wondering why Avery hadn't told her about said dinner, or even came to her upset when he'd appeared to have stood her up. Silently, she worried that Avery might be trying to hold things in again.

"You okay, babe?" Isaac asked as he looked over at his girlfriend after hearing her gasp.

With an ear to ear smile and nervous for almost being caught snooping she quickly answered, "Yeah, I'm fine… what are they saying?"

As Isaac started to relay the conversation, Teagan blocked him out as she continued to go through her best friend's phone.

**~()~**

"So after all of that, you're just letting us go?" Avery asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared the hunter down.

"Avery…" Scott breathed out, shaking his head back and forth.

"I sent four men out to where Kate was rumored to have been seen. None of them came back. Let's see if you can do better." Araya replied with an amused look on her aged face, wondering if the teens could actually pull it off.

"You could have just told us she was the one who had, Derek." Scott pointed out with a shrug.

"Now I know what kind of Alpha you are. And where your next step lies." She cryptically answered.

"What next step?" Scott questioned confused, as he looked over to see all of his friends waiting on them by the cars. From the look on Isaac's face he knew that the beta was listening in on them.

"When you take the bite of an innocent, when you make a wolf of your own, when you do that, then, I will cross your border and come knocking at your door." She answered eyeing both teenagers.

Avery rolled her eyes and said, "Scott is the last alpha on earth who would bite an innocent."

Scott looked over at his friend with a nod, he'd never force the werewolf curse onto anyone.

After a few more exchanges of words, Araya sent them off to join up with their friends.

As they walked up Stiles asked them, "What now?"

"She thinks she knows where we can find Derek." Avery explained, her gaze lingering on Teagan who shifted uncomfortably on the dirt beneath her shoes and avoided her friends gaze, leaving Avery confused.

"Did she tell you where?" Malia asked, also wondering where their next step would lie.

"Uh, actually, she's giving us a guide." Scott answered.

Almost on cue they heard a motorcycle and looked up to see someone driving up on a sleek bike, coming to a stop in the middle of the group they removed their helmet and Isaac's eyes widened as he pointed a finger and said, "You!"

"Her?" Teagan asked with raised eyebrows as she eyed the stranger then turned to her boyfriend.

Avery look between them as Isaac said, "Yeah, her!"

"I don't get it." Malia admitted, her eyes lingering on the strangers scars running over her face and neck.

"You know her?" Stiles questioned, but before Isaac could say anything Scott spoke up, "Braeden."

"Who's Braeden?" Malia asked, as if they girl wasn't right there with them.

"A mercenary." Lydia answered.

"You're the one who saved Isaac?" Avery remembered Miss Morrell talking about her before.

Teagan pulled in a deep breath at the realization and the painful memories of almost losing Isaac to the alpha pack.

Taking a step forward she offered a grateful smile as she sincerely said, "Braeden, it's nice to meet you. Thank you! Thank you so much for saving Isaac's life, I owe you so-"

The mercenary didn't let the teenager finish as she roughly pointed out, "I did what I was paid to do."

Teagan's eyebrows raised in surprise and Avery's hand landed on her own hips as she questioned, "Wow, and how much would a set of manners cost?"

Stiles let out a laugh at the blonde and Teagan nodded in agreement and pointed out, "I was just trying to thank you."

"Well, we don't have time for that. Right now I'm the only one who's gonna take you to La Inglesia." Braeden told them as she adjusted her helmet in her hand and surveyed the teenagers.

"The church?" Lydia spoke up.

"What's the church?" Kira questioned looking around.

"It's not a place you'll find god. And we need to get there before sunset. Follow me." She instructed the group as she put her helmet back on and everyone started to file into the cars.

"Oh, A I have your phone." Teagan pointed out as she handed it over.

"Thanks."

The sound of a new text alert played and Isaac pointed out, "The guy said it's been ringing off the hook."

Avery glanced down to the screen seeing a text from her dad asking her where she was.

As Isaac walked in front of the car to get in the driver's seat, Teagan tried to suavely ask, "So… who's been calling you?"

"Just my dad." Avery lied, taking in a deep breath.

Teagan's eyebrows raised as she asked, "He didn't want you to come on this joke of a rescue mission either, did he?"

Avery rolled her eyes as she opened the back door of the car and said, "You didn't have to come along, T. You could have stayed home."

With a frustrated sigh, Teagan opened the passenger door and got into the car thinking that Avery was going to get herself in a mess again, set herself back after all the hard work she'd done to get better, and it was all because of what was happening with Derek.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you so much for reading! We really hope you guys all enjoyed the chapter. ^_^**


	6. The Truth Comes Out

**Chapter Six – The Truth Comes Out**

* * *

><p>Avery stared down to her left hand, repeatedly opening and closing her hand making a fist as she could now feel a slight tinge of numbness in the fingers that Kate had broken when she'd tortured her.<p>

The doctors had warned her there might be some permanent nerve damage but she hadn't noticed a problem since her cast had come off and her arm was finally allowed out of its sling.

Closing her eyes she thought of how it had to all be in her head, the numbness in her fingers only existed in her mind.

"Avery!"

Jumping the blonde gasped as she snapped her gaze to the front seat where Teagan was looking over her shoulder at her.

"What?" Avery asked almost seeming dazed for a moment.

"Your phone." Isaac said from the driver's seat as he was paying more attention to his girlfriend and his friend than he was to the road in front of them.

Avery looked down to see another missed call from her dad.

"Your dad again?" Teagan asked, her tone harsh.

"Yeah." Avery mumbled as she opened up one his texts and her thumbs trembled while she tried to think of a reply, she knew he'd probably found out she'd taken several cash advances on her credit cards and withdrew the money from the emergency account.

The brunette turned back around, practically staring a hole in the back of Stiles' blue jeep as they brought up the tail end of the group following Braeden.

"What's going on?" Isaac questioned, feeling the stress and tension pouring off of his girlfriend.

"Nothing." Teagan practically snapped, then pinned her eyes shut feeling bad.

She didn't mean to snap at him, but she hadn't slept in over 24 hours and the stress of keeping such a big secret from him was really getting to her. Not to mention they'd all about been killed trying to stick to a plan that she'd been against from the beginning.

But no one wanted to listen to her voice of reason back in Beacon Hills, everyone was ready to listen to Avery and assume that the Calaveras could be bought, that the plan of getting Derek back would be simple and painless. The reality of course was neither without pain or remotely simple.

Just as she started to take a deep breath to calm herself, the interior of the car was filled with the single most annoying sound on the face of the earth, or at least that's how it felt to ears.

"Oh my god!" Teagan exclaimed.

Avery quickly silenced her phone but didn't appreciate her friend's tone as she asked, "What, T?"

"Nothing." The brunette hissed.

Avery rolled her eyes and bit her tongue, the one person she hated to tell off was her best friend. But after being electrocuted and finding out that the source of all her nightmares was very much alive, and currently had Derek doing god knows what to him; she was in no mood for her friends new found attitude.

"I just don't understand it, since Derek got back from taking Cora back home he was nothing but a jerk to you! And now you sold your car to get him back, this whole thing is a mess and you should have just listened to your dad and stayed home. " Teagan yelled.

Isaac held his breath as he glanced beside him to his girlfriend then in the rearview mirror to Avery as the blonde didn't miss a beat and snapped right back, "Nobody tells me what to do; not my dad and not even you T."

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do, all I'm saying is that after everything he's done… after everything Derek's put you through, after the different times and ways he's hurt you –all I'm saying is maybe he doesn't deserve you dropping everything to run to his rescue." She finally admitted, her voice heavy with irritation and emotion.

"What are you saying? That because he's made some bad choices he deserves to be tortured and god only knows what else, by Kate Argent of all people?" Avery shouted back.

"No, you know that's not what I'm saying! I just don't understand why you have to be the one trying to rescue him." Teagan mumbled under her breath.

"What is going on?" Isaac asked, but neither girl answered him.

"The fact that I think there is more going on between Avery and Derek than she's owning up too." Teagan loudly exclaimed.

"You're really going to get on me about keeping secrets?" Avery said with a smirk at her best friend.

Teagan's eyes widened and she stared at her in shock.

"Oh yeah… I went there." Avery shot at her as she smugly folded her arms over her chest.

"Seriously, guys… stop it, we need to-" Isaac tried to assert but jumped in his seat and accidentally stomped the gas pedal as both girls shouted in unison, "Stay out of this!"

He gasped and narrowly avoided running into the back of the jeep, but neither girl seemed to notice as they were both locked in the middle of an intense staring contest.

"I didn't do anything." Isaac asserted then turned towards Teagan and asked, "Seriously, babe… what is going on? Because honestly you're bringing up secrets and I've been feeling like –"

"Oh my god, Isaac! Can you just stay out of this?" Teagan yelled as she ran her fingers through her hair and turned back around facing out of her side window.

"Stay out of it?" He mumbled under his breath then loudly said, "I'm starting to wish I'd just rode with Stiles."

"Well, don't let me stop you. If you don't want to be in a car with me then just flag Stiles down and ride with him." Teagan said, refusing to look over at him.

Nodding, even though no one could see her Avery agreed out loud, "Yeah, I'm sure none of them would complain about being in Teagan's nice car with air conditioning."

"Yeah." The brunette nodded.

Isaac looked at them, not sure what to do; one minute they were at each other's throats, then the next minute they were ganging up on him.

"I shouldn't have ever left California." Isaac loudly said back to the girls, who both scoffed at him before Teagan pointed out, "I didn't even want to come in the first place."

"Then why did you?" Avery asked, clearly irritated with her.

"You know why!" She snapped, "You think I'm just going to let you take off on some dangerous mission to save Derek without me?"

"I'm starting to think if you're just going to bitch the whole time you should have stayed home." Avery pointed out, her stomach was in knots at the idea of possibly seeing Kate Argent again.

"I don't think I'm the one being a bitch."

"I didn't call you a bitch! I said you're doing nothing but bitching!"

Isaac shook his head trying to block out the sounds of their arguing. He had no idea what was going on between the two of them and in that moment he didn't care, he was seriously considering catching a ride with Stiles and sending Lydia to their car. He considered she'd been friends with them since they were 5 years old, if anyone could handle the best friends arguing like this; it would be her.

When they continued to bicker back and forth he took a deep breath and started to say he really was going to switch cars, but he couldn't even get a word in as both girls yelled at him, "Stay out of this!"

Then they shot angry looks at one another before crossing their arms over their chests and both shaking their heads.

Slowly he turned his attention back to the road and thought how creepy it was they acted so much a like sometimes.

When Avery's phone went off with a text message Teagan unclipped her seat belt and turned around as she demanded, "Give me the phone!"

"Sit your crazy ass back down, Teagan!" Avery yelled at her as she moved her phone to where her friend couldn't reach it.

But Teagan didn't give up as she leaned half way into the backseat and grabbed the blonde's phone as she said, "No, I'm going to answer it and I'm going to tell your dad that he was right and you should have just stayed with him because your entire plan is a disaster!"

With a jolt of attitude and an arched eyebrow Avery said, "It's a text, Teagan… not a phone call.

"Your dad…" The brunette admitted with a sigh, "Knows you took the $20,000 out of the emergency account."

Teagan opened her mouth but before she could say anything, Isaac let out a startled noise as he slammed on the breaks and grabbed Teagan to keep her in her seat as the car jerked to an abrupt stop barely an inch behind Stiles' jeep.

They three teens sat in complete silence for a minute as Isaac quickly shut the car off and removed his hands from the steering wheel trying to catch his breath.

Teagan looked down to Avery's cellphone and slowly handed it back to her friend, who took it and unfastened her own seatbelt.

"Are you guys okay?" Isaac asked, fumbling with his own belt.

"I'm okay." Teagan admitted as Avery stuttered out, "I'm fine."

After hearing that he threw the car door open and got out, angrily approached Stiles who was just getting out of his own car.

"What the hell was that!" Isaac shouted, catching the teen off guard.

Stiles tripped over his own feet and fell back against his jeep as he put his hands up in front of him trying to keep distance between himself and the beta staring at him with yellow eyes.

"Isaac!" Scott yelled as he rushed around the car, arriving at the same time as the girls did.

"Isaac, calm down!" Teagan urged, gently rubbing his arm, trying to get him to focus.

"He could have killed you." Isaac growled back, still feeling the effects of all the tension and anger seeping off of Teagan and Avery from the car ride.

"It wasn't his fault." Malia defended, her eyes glowing blue as she scrambled to get out of the jeep.

"It's true!" Scott quickly added in, "We hit something and the car stalled."

"Isaac, baby… calm down. We're okay, that's the most important thing. We're all okay." Teagan softly said, rubbing her hand up and down his arm until he finally breathed and his eyes went back to normal.

He took a step back, looking up to see Lydia and Kira with their faces almost pressed up against the side window watching them.

"What happened?" Braeden asked, marching up to the group of teens with an annoyed expression.

"It felt like we hit something." Stiles explained.

Looking to Scott she said, "We need to get there by night, it's too dangerous otherwise… and we're running out of time."

Stiles told Scott to go ahead and go, but he didn't want to go without his friends.

"We can take my car." Teagan offered as she rushed over to her car but to her dismay, it wouldn't start. It sounded like the engine wanted to turn over, but it just couldn't.

"Stop… you're going to flood the engine even more." Braeden yelled out to the frustrated teenager, "It's not going to start until the spark plugs dry… probably a few hours or so."

"What are we supposed to do then?" Avery asked, looking around her friends with a frantic expression.

Scott stared at her for a minute before he said, "I'll go with Braeden, we'll get Derek."

"But…"

"Just trust me, okay? I'll bring him back. I promise." Scott assured her.

After a few seconds of silence, Avery nodded. Trusting wasn't something she did easily, but she knew he was telling the truth.

As Scott started to leave with Braeden, Kira jogged after him and Isaac raised the hood of Teagan's car to let it cool off.

He looked over at his girlfriend to see her standing off to the side of the dirt road, her face scrunched up as she watched Braeden and Scott drive off in the direction they'd been headed.

Isaac started to take a few steps towards her, but paused when he heard Avery's phone go off again and Teagan looked over at her best friend, loudly calling out in an annoyed voice, "You get that this entire plan is a disaster, right? Nothing is going right! Not one thing is going our way."

"Butt out Teagan!" Avery shouted back as she struggled to pull her phone from her pocket.

Letting out a heavy, exasperated sigh the beta walked over to Stiles' jeep as Malia reached above the tire and with a grunt pulled something out of the car and said, "Stiles… I don't think we hit something. Something hit us."

**~()~**

Isaac raised his head, looking up at the sky, seeing it get darker by the minute. The sun was quickly setting and they were still out on the side of the road while Stiles tried to fix his Jeep and they waited for Teagan's car to cool off.

With his girlfriend on his mind, he glanced over at her; she was still standing in the same spot she was when Scott left with Braeden. She had her arms folded across her chest as she angrily kicked at the ground, kicking up dirt.

Next he looked over at the car, seeing Avery leaned back against it, with her arms folded. He shook his head when he saw her kick at the ground too. He didn't know what was going on between the two best friends. He didn't think he had ever seen them argue like this before, but after having his own head bit off a few times in the process, he decided to try and stay out of it.

He still felt like there was something Teagan wasn't telling him and he had no idea what they were fighting some much in the car earlier or what Avery meant about secrets, but he knew now was probably not the time to push it. They were all tired, sore, scared about Kate being back, worried about Derek and just ready to go home.

"Maybe we should just walk." Lydia, who was leaned against the jeep, suggested.

"Hey, I will never abandon this jeep. You understand me? Ever. Ever. Ever." Stiles, who was on top of the jeep, trying to fix whatever the problem was.

"It's getting dark." Isaac said, stating the obvious, as he glanced over at the jeep.

Stiles snapped his head up, as he sighed and sarcastically said,"Really, Isaac? Really? It's getting dark? I have not noticed that. Thank God, we got you here to tell us things we don't know."

"Being a little smartass, isn't going to get the jeep running any faster." Isaac pointed out.

"Maybe not, but neither is stating the obvious either." Stiles back.

"Scott's out there, looking for Derek and we're all here! Standing around, doing nothing!" Isaac continued.

"And again with the not helping. Don't you have scarf you could be knitting or something?" Stiles snapped.

"Guys..." Kira nervously said, hoping they would stop arguing, but neither boy heard her.

Stiles shook his head, as he looked back down and tried to tighten up a screw, at least he thought he was tighten it, with his luck he was probably just loosening it. "I'm going as fast as I can." He mumbled, as he handed a flash light over to Lydia, wanting her to shine it in the area he was working to help him see better.

"Work faster, Stiles." Malia announced, getting everyone's attention. She glanced all around them, picking up a vague scent, but she couldn't locate exactly where it was coming from or even what it was that was out there. She just knew something was out there and watching them. With that thought in mind, she added,"There's something out here with us."

"What is it?" Teagan asked Malia, as she turned around to look at her.

"I don't- I can't tell. It's nothing I ever smelled before." Malia answered.

"Where is it coming from?" Avery asked, as she pushed off of Teagan's car and glanced around. Like Malia, she could feel eyes on them, but had no idea where it was coming from. It was a feeling she had felt before, back when the alpha pack was stalking her before kidnapping her and when her mother stalked her before revealing herself.

"I don't know." Malia said, as she shook her head.

"Okay, that's fine. Just concentrate." Teagan said, as she walked over to Malia. "Just concentrate on one area, see what you can pick up from there, then move on to the next one."

"I'm trying, but-but with the wind-"

"She said she doesn't know where it is coming from." Avery interrupted, as she walked over to the two girls.

"I heard her, but I'm just trying to help." Teagan explained, as she gestured around with her hands.

"No, you're being bossy." Avery pointed out. "You're bossy her, you're trying to boss me and you need to stop it!"

"I'm not being bossy. I just think..."

"You think what?" Avery asked when she paused. "Go ahead Teagan! Say what you've been dying to say ever since we left home. Say it!"

As Teagan folded her arms across her chest, and shook her head. Malia took a few steps back to stand beside Kira, while Isaac sighed and walked over to the jeep, as he said,"Here let me help."

If the two girls were going to get into it again then they needed to get out of there as soon as possible, before he start hoping whatever was watching them would just attack them all. At least then it would stop the fighting between Avery and Teagan.

"You don't even have a car. How could you possible help?" Stiles pointed out, as he snapped his head up to look at the beta.

"Owning a car has nothing to do with knowing how to fix one." Isaac argued. "Case in point now. You have a car and have no idea what the hell you are doing."

Stiles blew out a breath, as he scoffed, and said,"I do know what the hell I am doing. You think I don't know how to fix my own jeep?"

"That is exactly what I am saying." Isaac said back.

Lydia shook her head, as she rubbed her forehead. She didn't know what was worst, her two best friends bickering or the two boys, they all were giving her a headache. "I swear I am this close to screaming." She mumbled out, but no one heard her.

"So are you not talking now, Teagan?" Avery questioned, as she looked at her best friend. "Not surprising since that's all you've been doing lately. Not talking. Not telling things you should be telling."

"Alright, fine, you want to know what I think?" Teagan said. "I think coming here was a huge mistake."

"Yeah, you made your feeling known about that from the beginning." Avery stated, as she rolled her eyes and waited for Teagan to continue. She knew her best friend well enough to know she wasn't finished.

"And I just think it's ridiculous that you just dropped everything to go running to Derek. Plus, not to mention, you're ignoring your dad, Avery! All you ever wanted was his attention, and now you have it and you're ignoring it! All because of Derek!" Teagan stated, as she folded her arms across her chest, saying the thought that has been on her mind ever since she saw the text messages and missed calls on Avery's phone. "But, I mean, that's how it always is, right? Derek is in trouble and you come running."

"I would come running for any of you and you know that, T." Avery pointed out. "Deep down, you know this has nothing to do with the rescue mission. If it was Isaac or Lydia or even me who had been taken, you would cross the border in a heartbeat for us. Your problem is, it's Derek. You've never liked him."

Before Teagan could say anything, Avery threw out her arms, as she added,"And I get it, T. He has screwed up, but guess what? We all have! Not all of us get to live on a pedestal and be a hero. Some of us are huge screw ups that probably shouldn't deserve second, third or fourth chances, but there are just some people you can't walk away from."

"That's not fair, A. You know I am far from perfect. I've had my share of screw ups too so I get how important second chances are, but what chance is Derek on now?" Teagan questioned. "Cause he has hurt you so many times, I've lost count. It seems like every time you get your footing, he rips the rug out from under you."

Avery shook her head, disagreeing, but before she could say anything, Teagan continued,"I mean, just look at now. You haven't been home a full week and yet here we are..."

"Someone has to save him, T." Avery stated, as she clenched her jaw, trying not to completely lose her cool on her best friend. "You've seen what Kate has done to him before... What she did to me... He can't stay with her."

"I know, and I'm not saying he shouldn't be saved." Teagan pointed out. "I'm just saying it doesn't have to always be you."

"Then who, Teagan? Who else is going to rush to save him!" Avery yelled out.

"I dunno. Just- Just someone else!" Teagan yelled back.

"Sh-Should we do something? Like, I don't know, intervene or something?" Kira quietly asked, as she leaned toward Malia.

"No, you never get in the middle of a fight. Not one, like this." Malia said. She pointed at the two bickering friends, as she added,"See how both of their nostrils are flared and they're kind of circling each other? That means one is about to pounce soon. You don't get in the middle of that, you just let them go to the death."

"They're not going to fight to the death." Lydia pointed out, when she saw the worried look on Kira's face. "They will just bitch and bitch until all the truth comes out." It was something she had seen other times while growing up with them. She knew they wouldn't actually hurt each other, they would just keep snapping at each other until whatever was wrong is resolved.

"Lydia, could you please hold the light still for a second?" Stiles spoke up, getting the red head's attention."It's really hard to see anything if you keep shaking it like that."

"I'm shaking it like this because we're in the middle of nowhere with your broken down jeep and we're being attacked by yet another razor-clawed monster. And I'm terrified." Lydia pointed out. She cringed when she heard Avery yelling at Teagan, then added,"And I have front row seats to my two best friends screaming at each other."

When Teagan yelled something back at Avery, Lydia looked over at Isaac, as she asked,"Aren't you going to do something?"

"I tried. Earlier in the car and all that got me was my head chewed off and briefly had both of them ganging up on me." Isaac answered.

"Well, try, harder." Lydia said back, as she nodded her head toward the screaming friends.

"Fine." Isaac grumbled, as he pushed away from the jeep and made his way over toward his girlfriend and Avery. He held out his arms, as he called out to them, trying to get their attention.

He jumped back in surprise, when they both snapped their heads to the side to look at him, as they both yelled out,"What?"

"Don't you think this has gone on long enough?" Isaac questioned. "Look, we're all tried and tense, but all this arguing is not helping."

"I'll stop arguing as soon as Avery admits that this whole plan was stupid. As soon as she admits it was a mistake to come here and that she is already slipping into bad behavior." Teagan stated, as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Wow." Avery breathed out, as she shook her head, her eyes watering up. "I will admit that this was not the best plan ever, but it was the only one we had, but I will never admit saving Derek is a mistake. And as far as the other thing, you have no idea how hard I'm trying to not slip into bad behavior."

Seeing that her last comment had hurt her feeling, Teagan blew out a breath, feeling guilty. She took a step toward Avery, planning to apologize, but the blonde took a step back, holding up a hand, as she added,"But you can admit something to me, Teagan. Why are you so worried about my drama when you have your own?"

"What drama?" Isaac questioned, as he looked over at his girlfriend. He knew she was keeping something from him and apparently whatever it was, Avery knew about it too.

"That's- That's not..." Teagan began to stutter over to him. She looked back over at Avery, as she snapped,"We're not talking about that now."

"Why not? You want to be all in the middle of my business, something that has absolutely nothing to do with you, yet you can't even tell your own boyfriend what is going on with you." Avery pointed out.

"What is going on?" Isaac asked, feeling his heart began to race. The more she avoided telling him, the worst he felt like the secret was. What could be so bad that she couldn't tell him?

When Teagan didn't say anything, he rested his hands on his hips, as he yelled out her name, causing her jump in surprise. She turned her head to look at him, her eyes wide with worry. She shook her head back and forth as she opened and closed her mouth a few times.

"I-I can't." Teagan breathed out. She turned her head to look at Avery, pleading for her to drop it, as she hissed out,"You know why I can't tell him."

"Why not, T? He just going to stand there looking all dopey like he is now and make some awkward ass comment like he always does." Avery pointed out.

"Hey!" Isaac called out, feeling offended.

"Well, it's the truth." Avery said back with a shrug. She looked back over at her best friend, as she said,"Teagan, tell him!"

Teagan shook her head and turned to walk away, but Isaac blocked her path. He placed his hands on her shoulders, as he said,"Babe, whatever it is, we'll get through it, okay? Just-Just tell me what's going on."

"Hey..." He added, as he lifted her head to look at him. He wiped the tears from her face, as he said,"What do we always say? It's you and me. Let me help you."

"Teagan, just tell him. He's going to find out in 9 months anyways." Avery pointed out without realizing.

"Right, just tell..." Isaac began to say until he realized what Avery actually said. He took a few quick steps back from Teagan, as he looked over at Avery in shock. "You-You just said... So that means..." He looked back to look at Teagan, as he breathed out,"You-You're pregnant."

Teagan nodded her head as tears fell down her face. She opened her mouth to explain that she took a test back when they were at Long Beach and it came back positive, but before she could say a word, he interrupted,"How-How the hell did this happen?"

"Did you seriously just ask that?" Avery snapped, as she stepped up to stand beside Teagan, laying an arm around her shoulders.

"Well obviously I know how it happens, but how did this happen?" Isaac explained, as he gestured between himself and Teagan. "We're always careful."

"Apparently not." Avery stated, as she shot a look at Isaac. The more he talked, the more upset Teagan become and the more pissed off she was.

"This can't be happening." Isaac mumbled out to no one in particular, as he rested his hands on top of his head and looked up at the night sky. This was the worst possible thing that could happen.

"We can't- You can't have a baby, Teagan. You can't have my baby!" He snapped, as he looked over at Teagan. "This is such a huge mistake... This can't happen! We can't do this, Teagan, we can't!"

Teagan breathed out a quiet sob at his words, as she placed a hand over her mouth, and felt like the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She was worried about his reaction, but never thought it would be like this.

"That was not an awkward comment." Avery mumbled, as she ran her hands up and down Teagan's arms trying to comfort her.

Isaac snapped his head over toward the blonde and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Malia let out a roar before charging after something. Stiles and Kira called out for her, but she ignored them as she ran away from them.

As Kira ran after Malia, Avery yelled out for both girls and chased after them. Teagan went to run after her friends, planning to help, but before she could take a step, Isaac grabbed her arm, bringing her to a stop, as he snapped,"Stay here!"

Teagan scoffed and wiped the tears from her face, as she watched him run off after Avery and the other two girls. With a sigh, she walked over toward the jeep, as Lydia told Stiles to focus and fix the jeep.

"Wow. So, congrats, I guess?" Stiles said to Teagan, as she leaned back against the jeep.

"Yeah." Teagan breathed out. "But as you can see it's not such a happy occasion thought."

"I just, I can't believe it." Lydia said, still in shock. "When did you find out?"

"I took a test while we were in Long Beach and it said..." She sighed, then added,"But I haven't had a chance to go to the doctors yet. I was planning to go, or at least get up the courage to go, but then this happened."

"As soon as we get back, you need to go. You need to know for sure." Lydia said, as she reached out with her free hand and grabbed Teagan's hand, giving it a squeeze.

"I know, I just... I'm scared." Teagan admitted. She shook her head, as tears filled her eyes, before saying,"I just didn't think he would react like that. Out of all the different ways I saw it happening, that way was not it." She reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes, then wrapped her arms around herself, as she softly said,"I just never thought I would be doing this alone."

"You're not alone." Lydia said, as she wrapped an arm around Teagan's waist and pulled her toward her. As she rested her head against Teagan's, Stiles spoke up and said,"She's right, you're not alone. We're here for you, T."

"Thanks." Teagan whispered, as she laid her head against Lydia's shoulder.

Once Avery met up with Kira, the two, along with Isaac, skid to a stop as they looked around for Malia and what she was chasing. Hearing a noise behind them, they spun around, seeing that it was Malia.

"What the hell were you thinking taking off like that?" Avery asked the brunette.

"I was thinking kill it before it kills us." Malia explained, as she bent over in pain.

"You can't just take off like that alone. We're a pack, remember?" Isaac stated, causing Avery to let out a bitter chuckle at his comment.

He turned his head to look at her, as he asked,"What was that for?"

"You know what it was for." Avery said back, as she shot him a look. He had a lot of nerve talking about being a pack after what he said to his girlfriend. She saw the heartbreaking look on Teagan's face earlier at his harsh words. Her best friend needed him now more than ever, but in her opinion, he was being a dick about it all which pissed her off.

"What happened? What's out there?" Kira asked, getting them back to the subject at hand.

"I don't know, but it is big and fast." Malia answered. "And it cuts deep." She added, as she showed them the cut on her side.

Kira opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, they heard the jeep fire up, causing the two girls to run off to join the others. They knew they all needed to leave soon, but whatever that was shows up again. Isaac went to take a step but before he could, Avery grabbed his arm to stop him.

"Let go, Avery." Isaac snarled. He was not in the mood for whatever she had to say. He knew he had screwed up, but the whole situation was screwed up. Teagan could not be pregnant. He could not be a father.

"No. Not until you tell me what the hell happened back there." Avery snapped.

"You were there, you know what happened." Isaac said back. Then added sarcastically,"And from the sounds of it, you know more than I do anyways."

"Isaac..." Avery began to say, then took a deep breath before she said something she would regret later. She balled her hand in a fist, then blew the breath out, before saying,"Look, I know you're freaked out-"

"You're damn right I'm freaked out." Isaac interrupted. "She can not be pregnant."

"Well there is a chance she is." Avery said back. "And guess what, Teagan is freaked out too, and she needs you through this. No matter what happens, she needs you. So get your shit together and be there." When she saw the scared look on his face, before he turned his head, she sighed, then added with a nicer tone,"You two have been through too much for something like this to ruin things. Don't be that guy, Isaac. Don't be the one to walk away."

Without another word, she turned to walk past him, until he spoke up and stopped her.

"I always promised her that I would never walk away."

"Good. Now keep that promise." Avery said back. As another thought hit her, she snapped her finger, then added,"Oh and by the way, I would suggest you taking that ride with Stiles now. I think it's best if Lydia rides with us."

As Avery walked away, Isaac lowered his head with a sigh. He had really screwed up this time and wasn't sure if there was any way to fix it. When that thought hit him, he ran a hand through his hair, as he squeezed his eyes shut, feeling tears fill them. He couldn't lose her. She was still all he wanted, all he needed, but after the way he reacted, he was worried he would have no say in the matter. He wouldn't blame her at all if she never wanted to speak to him again.

Maybe his father was right a long time ago, he didn't deserve to be happy. He was nothing but a screw up, a failure, just like him. Somehow his past always came back to haunt him and now this was his life. No more happiness, no more hope, no more 'you and me', and it was all his fault.

**~()~**

"How will we even know this place when we see it?" Avery breathed with a sigh as she glanced over to the passenger seat where Teagan was sitting with her arms wrapped around herself.

As Lydia started to talk, Avery glanced in the rear view mirror to make sure Stiles' jeep was still running and that they were right behind them.

"It's the only building left in the entire town." Lydia explained.

Trying to keep her mind off of her aching heart Teagan asked, "What happened?"

"The town was leveled by an earthquake, the entire town… La Inglesia was the only building left standing." The redhead continued with her explanation as she slid over of the center of the backseat and looked between her two best friends in the front of the car.

When no one said anything Lydia spoke up again, "Are we going to talk about what happened back there?"

"I think there's been enough talking." The brunette mumbled shakily under her breath.

Avery glanced down to the speedometer on the dash then over to her friend as she apologized, "T, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to tell him like that… it just slipped out."

With a small nod her friend said, "He was going to find out sooner or later… I guess at least now there is no confusion and I know I'm doing this on my own."

"You're not on your own!" Both Lydia and Avery asserted.

"We'll go shopping for baby clothes, cute diaper bags… find you some maternity clothes that aren't hideous…" Lydia started to try and cheer her up.

"Lydia-" Teagan sighed shaking her head, this was the last thing she wanted to be thinking about right now.

"Yeah, and we can alternate weekends of watching the baby so you can still go out and be young." Avery offered.

"Please stop talking." Teagan muttered as she felt tears stinging her eyes again.

"Nothing is set in stone, okay?" Lydia reasoned, "When we get back home, go to the doctor Teagan… find out for sure."

"She's right." Avery agreed, "Those store bought tests aren't 100%." Her grip tightened on the steering wheel until her knuckles were as white as her increasingly pale face.

Teagan looked over to point out that she'd been through the same health class at school as her friends had and they were just telling her things she already knew, but her eyebrows pushed together as she saw how sickly Avery looked now.

"A… what's wrong?"

"N-nothing." The blonde quickly stuttered out, then glanced over her shoulder as she asked Lydia, "Why was the church the only thing left after the earthquake?"

"There's different theories… the most popular being that the it's what's under the church that kept it standing." After a pause for dramatic effect, she continued, "An Aztec temple of shapeshifters."

"Shapeshifters? Like werewolves?" Teagan questioned.

"Werejaguars."

Teagan and Avery exchanged looks, realizing that must be what Kate Argent was now.

Just a few minutes later Avery pulled the car to a stop just behind Braeden's bike, and Stiles pulled in behind her outside of La Inglesia.

Everyone filed out of the cars but before they could head inside the ancient structure, they saw Scott and Braeden dragging someone out.

"Oh my god…" Teagan breathed, her big brown eyes growing even wider than they naturally were.

"Is that him?" Malia questioned looking to Stiles, who gave her a shrug and started to stumble over his words from shock.

"Is that Derek?" She asked louder, just wanting a simple yes or no answer as to whether the entire mission was a bust.

"It's him." Avery exclaimed as she rushed forward took his face in her hands eyeing him with a shocked expression as he weakly looked back at her; confused. Instead of the Derek she'd been expecting to see she was met by a younger version of the werewolf, the way he'd looked as a teenager when she'd just been a kid with the biggest crush in the world on him.

"Well, I mean… it's kind of him." Stiles finally found his words.

"It's him." Avery hissed as she shot him a look over her shoulder.

"10 years ago, maybe!" Stiles argued.

"What the hell is going on… how is this even possible?" Teagan asked her group of friends as they stared at a teenage version of the Derek.

She had recognized him immediately from Avery's mom's dealings with Hale family while they were growing up, and back from when Avery had grown up with a crush on the teenager.

"Let's get him back to Beacon Hills." Kira said, wanting out of Mexico and away from the Calaveras

"To Deaton." Lydia agreed, as she nodded back towards the cars.

After they got Derek into the backseat of Teagan's car, Avery grabbed a blanket from the trunk and called out, "I'm sitting back here with him, someone else needs to drive."

"On it." Lydia started to say, but before she could make a move Isaac slid into driver's seat of the car causing the redhead to say, "Or not…"

Teagan threw her arms out in frustration as she saw him in the car, she wasn't ready to deal with him. Not able to stomach anymore of his harsh words; she'd heard everything she needed to already and her heart couldn't take anymore.

"Get out." She said, trying to keep her voice strong.

"Teagan, I'm not leaving." Isaac called out of the open passenger door to his girlfriend.

"I can't… I can't do this right now." She argued thinking it was the truth. She couldn't take anymore, she couldn't do all of this on her own without him.

"Baby, please just get in the car…" He pleaded, the end of his sentence cut off by Avery yelling from the backseat, "Guys! He's blacking out… and freezing cold, come on!"

"Please, just get in the car." Isaac tried a softer approach.

Seeing her friend's heartbroken expression Lydia loudly called out, "I call shotgun." As she darted between Teagan and open passenger door.

Nodding in thanks Teagan got in the backseat of her car, next to Avery who was huddled against the young version of Derek, wrapping him up in blanket and trying to get him to stay awake; but it wasn't long before he fell into a state of unconsciousness and they couldn't reach him.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much for reading! ^_^ We'd like to give an extra special thank you to xxxRena and Omega Banshee for reviewing chapter 5!**

**What did you all think of this chapter?**


	7. It's Complicated

**Chapter Seven – It's Complicated**

* * *

><p>"How long has he been out?" Scott asked as he opened the door to the backseat of the car and looked in to see Derek's body slumped against Avery, his head on her shoulder and now completely unconscious.<p>

With watery eyes she admitted, "Since we left Mexico."

"Let's get him inside, I already called my boss." Scott informed them as he pulled Derek's body out of the car and put him over his shoulder.

"Teagan!" Isaac called after her, but she didn't turn around as Avery linked arms with the brunette and they followed Scott into the building.

With a heavy sigh he rubbed his hands over his face and stared up at the sky, before he glanced over to see Kira driving off with Malia in her car as both girls headed home from their so called camping trip.

Kira had borrowed her mom's car and had parked it in the back of the animal clinic next to Scott's bike so none of their parents would see the vehicles.

His gaze then tilted to the side where Lydia was standing with her arms crossed over her chest and staring at him with raised eyebrows.

"What?" He asked, dropping his arms to his side.

"You know what." Lydia responded, as she spun on her heels and headed towards the door.

Isaac shook his head at himself, knowing how badly he'd screwed up. Taking a deep breath, he held it deep in his lungs as he walked into the building and quickly located the room everyone was in and leaned against the door frame watching them.

"Wow…" Dr. Deaton said as he stared down to the unexplainably young Derek Hale.

"Wow as in you've seen this before and you know exactly what to do, kind of wow? Cause that's the kind of wow we're hoping for." Stiles asked.

Teagan glanced over to where Isaac was standing then quickly diverted her eyes.

"I think you might be over estimating my abilities."

Seeming to block them all out, Avery reached down and took Derek's hand in her own as she swallowed hard and said, "He's cold… freezing cold."

Deaton's face lined with concern as he held onto his other hand and felt for himself how unnaturally cold Derek's skin was.

"Do you think it's permanent?" Scott finally found his voice as he watched an extremely worried Avery still clutching onto Derek's hand.

Letting go of his hand, Deaton raised his eyelids and looked at his eyes as he continued, "I'm not sure a medical diagnosis is even adequate."

"Fix him." Avery demanded raising her gaze from the unconscious teenager's face.

"This is well beyond my experience." He argued with an empathetic expression.

"Then what do we do?" Teagan asked, ignoring the feeling of Isaac's eyes on her.

"Until he wakes up… probably not much. It might be best to just leave him with me… he'll be safe here." The veterinarian offered a temporary solution.

"You mean from Kate?" Isaac asked from the doorway.

Teagan pinned her eyes shut at the both the sound of his voice and the thought of her Kate Argent being alive.

"If she is alive and she is what you say she is… she won't be able to walk past that gate." He guaranteed the teenagers.

"But… why would she even want to do this to him?" Lydia asked, not understanding how aging Derek backwards would benefit Kate at all.

"Knowing Kate, it's probably not a reason that's good for any of us." Teagan hissed through gritted teeth.

Nodding Avery quietly added, "Especially not for Derek."

As Dr. Deaton surveyed the group of exhausted teenagers, he reasoned, "You should probably all go home. He doesn't look to be in any danger. So the rest of you should get some sleep."

Teagan scoffed as she shook her head back and forth, she wanted to sleep. In fact, crawling into her bed and turning off her mind and the heartache for several hours of badly needed rest was all she wanted to do. But her problems would still be there when she woke up and that thought turned her stomach.

"It is a school night." Deaton reminded them.

Scott blinked his eyes a few times, trying to look awake and alert.

"You all need to start taking care of your own lives again." He continued, thankful they'd gotten Derek back to Beacon Hills, but also he could see the toll the long journey had taken on them.

"Someone should stay with you." Scott said, as he started to volunteer himself but Avery spoke up, "I think it's pretty obvious, I'm the one who's going to stay."

"I am so not okay with this." Stiles admitted, looking at her but she avoided his gaze.

"I'm not either." Teagan admitted, as she rested her hands on the side of the table and leaned over some feeling like she'd been awake for weeks on end.

"I could stay with you." Lydia offered, "My grades are fine."

"No… Deaton's right, you need to start to taking care of your own lives again." The blonde stubbornly argued.

"We." Teagan said, raising her head and looking at her best friend.

Scott nodded in agreement as he stated, "We all do. That includes you, Avery."

"We all know this entire trip was my idea." She sighed, looking around her friend's tired faces. "I was the one with the dumbass idea and I put every single one of us in danger. Lydia you didn't even want to go… you've done enough just go home."

"Stupid idea or not… we got him, we brought him back." Teagan said, trying to comfort her friend. Normally she'd offer to stay, more like refuse to leave her friend but she didn't have the energy to face them for another second. She just wanted to be alone in the comfort of her own room; in her own bed.

"Yeah, we wouldn't have even known Derek was gone if it wasn't for you." Scott pointed out.

"Guys, just go." She sighed shaking her head at their failed attempts to make her feel any less guilty.

"No." Stiles replied in a monotone voice.

"Text us-" Scott and Teagan started to say at the same thing, then glanced at each other as she nodded for him to go one.

"Text us if anything happens." Scott finished.

"I will." She agreed.

"Nope, still not okay with it." Stiles held his argument.

Isaac stepped out of the doorway as Scott had to psychically pull Stiles from the room, who kept arguing with him the whole time but finally gave up. Normally seeing the best friend's antics would have brought a smile to her face but Teagan couldn't even manage that as she silently followed behind them out of the clinic.

**~()~**

Teagan pushed the door open and stepped out into the dark night. It was late, she was tired and just wanted to go home. Avery was staying behind with Dr. Deaton and de-aged Derek, which didn't surprise Teagan and frankly at the moment she didn't care. She had enough on her mind and was too upset to argue with anyone else.

She threw her hand up to wave bye to the others, as she walked toward her car. None of the others tried to speak to her; knowing she was already upset enough but that didn't stop Isaac from trying.

"Teagan... Teagan, wait!" Isaac yelled out, as he rushed out the door and chased after her.

"Just go home with Scott." Teagan called out, from over her shoulde, as she reached out to open the driver side door.

Isaac caught up with her just in time and slammed the door shut. "We need to talk about this." He stated.

"Not tonight we don't." Teagan argued, as she tried to open the door again, then groaned when he slammed it shut again.

"Yes tonight!" Isaac said back. "How long have you known?" He questioned.

"Does it matter?" Teagan asked back, as she turned around to face him.

"If I'm the father then yeah it matter, it matter a lot." Isaac pointed out.

"If?" Teagan squeaked out. "If you're the father? How many people do you think I'm screwing, Isaac?" She yelled out.

Isaac closed his eyes, realizing how that sounded, then blew out a breath, as he added,"I didn't mean it that way. I mean if you are then I deserve to know. You should have told me, Teagan."

"You know what? You're right. I should have told you. But I was scared to tell you, scared of what your reaction would be." Teagan said, as she nodded her head. She folded her arms across her chest, then raised her eyebrows, as she added sarcastically, "Crazy thought right? Since you're taking the news so well and everything."

Isaac sighed at her tone and ran his hands over his face, as he said, "Oh, my God, have you been taking smartass lessons from Stiles or something." He held up his hands as he added, "Look I know I didn't handle that well-"

"It's fine. Whatever." Teagan interrupted. "I heard you back in Mexico. We can't do this and it can't happen." She added with a shrug. "So congrats, Isaac. You're off the hook."

"Teagan..." He began to say, as he reached out to grab her, trying to stop her from turning away from him.

"Don't touch me." Teagan snapped, as she jerk her arm away.

As Isaac reached out to grab her again, Scott took a step toward them and called out Isaac's name, getting his attention.

"Let her go." Scott added. "It's late, we're all tired and now is not the time for this."

Isaac turned his head back to look at Teagan, he took a step closer to her, as he softly said,"I always promised I wouldn't walk away."

"You're not." Teagan said back, as she shook her head. She felt tears fill her eyes, as she whispered,"But I am."

"Teagan, don't-"

"Just leave me alone, Isaac. Please, just leave me alone." Teagan pleaded, as tears fell down her face.

Isaac felt his heart break, as he took a step back. He knew he should keep fighting, not let her leave, but he had already made a mess out of everything. The last thing he wanted to do was make it worst.

"It's still you and me." He softly said, as he watched her open the car door.

She paused for a moment, then glanced over her shoulder, as she quietly said,"It doesn't feel like it anymore."

"Teagan-"

She ignored him, as she sat down in the driver seat. He stood in place, watching her crank the car, then pull out of the parking lot and driving away from him. He felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder, giving it a friendly pat.

"You two will work it out. You always do." Scott said, trying to be optimistic.

"I don't know if we will this time." Isaac said with tears in his eyes, as he shook his head. He hoped Scott was right, but at the moment it didn't feel like anything will be okay again.

**~()~**

Once her friends were gone, Avery tucked the blanket back around Derek and looked up to Dr. Deaton with a defeated expression.

"There's a couch in my office…" He started to say but she cut him off as she nodded and said, "Okay, I'll yell for you if anything happens."

With a smile he explained, "I was going to offer it to you."

Her eyes fell back to Derek's face and she sighed, "I'm not leaving the room."

It was a few hours later that she pulled her phone and phone charger from her jacket pocket, and plugged it into the wall before sitting down in a chair and waiting for her battery to charge enough for her phone to turn back on. Deaton had went to his office several minutes before then, after multiple failed attempts to wake Derek up.

Laying her phone down on her leg, Avery blew out a heavy sigh and ran her fingers through her hair as she thought back to the trip they'd been on. Cringing as she remembered practically spelling it out for Isaac that Teagan was pregnant. In all honesty, she'd expected the revelation to shake him but no one could have imagined he'd react the way he did.

Her stomach turned with the guilt she was feeling and her tired eyes burned, begging for even a short nap. But just as her eyes started to close her phone turned out and startled her as the text tone echoed through the silent room.

She looked at the last few messages she had from her dad and her guilt grew, he'd tried so many times over the past few days to get in touch with her. He was worried about her, the abundance of texts and several missed calls proved that and she hadn't taken a second to text him back.

After all what could she say? She hadn't replied, because the only thing she could tell him was that she had taken off to Mexico, put her friends in danger and even got herself tortured.

The idea of her dad worrying about her that much was a new concept for her. Feeling like the world's worst person she didn't even reply to his messages as she silenced her phone and laid it face down on the floor next to her chair not even wanting to see it anymore. She closed her eyes, hugged her jacket around herself and leaned her head against the wall.

**~()~**

The next morning, Teagan pulled her car into the animal clinic parking lot, then grabbed the small bag of breakfast sandwiches and the cardboard holder; that had a cup of coffee in each hole, before exiting the car.

Since she couldn't get any sleep anyways, she figured she would grab breakfast for Avery and Deaton, and see how things were with Derek. Even if she wasn't the biggest Derek Hale fan, she still didn't want anything bad to happen to him. Besides it gave her something to do to keep her mind off of her own problems.

Isaac texted her and called her all night, pleading with her to talk to him but she couldn't do it. Every time she remembered his reaction to the news, she would just curl up in a ball and cry herself to sleep, until she snapped back awake as she began to wonder how she was going to handle all of this alone. Sure she had her friends and she was grateful for that, but at the end of the day she was all alone in this.

She blew out a breath, trying to put all the thoughts out of her head, as she opened the door and walked inside the building. She made her way down the hallway, heading for the room they were all in the night before.

Avery, hearing someone enter the room, snapped her eyes open and glanced over at the door way, then felt herself relax when she saw it was just Teagan. Like her best friend, she didn't get much sleep either. Any little noise woke up her, making her fear for a moment that Kate had tracked them down and was back to finish whatever she started with Derek and herself. She was still trying to wrap her mind around the fact that she was still alive. She had honestly thought they were all done with Kate Argent.

"Morning." Teagan said, as she gave her friend a small smile.

"Hey." Avery sleepily said back, as she stood up from the chair she had been resting in. She stretched, then cringed, when she felt a pain all over from sleeping awkwardly in the chair for hours.

"No change?" Teagan questioned, as she nodded her head over toward the table that the younger Derek was laying on.

"No. No change." Avery said, as she shook her head. Seeing what was in Teagan's hand, she let out a little groan, as she said, "Please tell me that is coffee."

"Yeah. I figured you would need some." Teagan said, as she sat the bag and holder down on the counter. She took out one of the cups, then handed it over to Avery, as she added, "I got you a large black."

Avery gave her a small smile in thanks, then wrapped her hands around the cup as she took a small sip. "Mmm, black like my soul." She mumbled, before taking another sip.

"A..."

"I was kidding." Avery said. "Besides, we all know I don't even have a soul." When she saw the look on Teagan's face, she shook her head, as she said, "Now that was a joke."

"Not a very funny one." Teagan pointed out, as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Sorry, I must have left my sense of humor back in Mexico." Avery said with a small smile.

Teagan nodded her head, as she added, "You probably left it beside my broken heart."

"It's going to be okay, T." Avery said, as she laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It's really not." Teagan choked out, as a tear fall down her face.

Before either girl could say anything else, they heard Deaton walk into the room. Teagan turned her head, wiping the tears from her face as Avery smiled over at the older man.

"Morning. I thought I heard voices." Deaton said, as he flashed a friendly smile at the two girls.

"Yeah, I uh, I thought I would bring you two some breakfast." Teagan said, as she nodded her head toward the food and coffee she brought in.

Deaton gave her a nod to thank her, as he grabbed himself a cup of coffee. He looked at the two girls, seeing the serious expressions on their face, then looked back at Teagan; looking at her closer, before asking, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just, I didn't get much sleep last night." Teagan said, which was mostly the truth.

Deaton nodded his head accepting her answer. He could tell there was something more going on, but figured it was something private for the teenager and decided not to push. He felt sure if they needed his help with something they would come to him.

He lifted the cup, as he gave her a smile, before saying, "Well thank you for the coffee."

"You're welcome." Teagan said back. She cleared her throat, then said,"I should get going."

"I'll walk you out." Avery offered, as she sat her cup down on the counter, then began to walk toward the exit with her best friend.

The two walked side by side to Teagan's car, until Avery spoke up and said, "You don't have to go. You can hang out here for a while. So you don't have to be..."

"Alone?" Teagan finished for her. She turned around to lean back against her car, folding her arms across her chest, as she added with a sigh, "That's something I have to get use to now I guess."

"Teagan, I told you, you're not alone in this." Avery pointed out. "You have me, Lydia, and the others. And I know Isaac will come around." At least he better come around or she would have to have another talk with him. "It was not a good way for him to find out, which, I again apologize for." She added, as she held up her hands.

"It's okay." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "You were right, I needed to tell him. I should have told him from the very beginning. At least I would have gotten my answer from the start."

"It's understandable that you didn't tell him." Avery said, as she shook her head. "And I shouldn't have pushed you. I was just trying to get the subject off of me and I pushed you before you were ready. I shouldn't have done that, T, especially since I know how hard that is."

"Yeah, but-" Teagan began to say until she realized what she said. "Wait, what do you mean you know?"

Avery felt her eyes widen when she realized what she slipped up and said. She ran a hand through her hair, as she let out a sigh and turned away from her friend.

"Avery, you were pregnant?" Teagan asked with a confused expression on her face.

Avery closed her eyes for a moment, as she remembered the things her therapist told her; he would tell her she needed to start working on opening up to people. To the ones she trusted the most. It wasn't healthy for her to keep so much to herself.

"I thought I was." Avery softly said, as she turned around to face Teagan. "It was while you were gone and I was at the treatment center the first time. I was late and then when I got home, I told Lydia, and she and her mom took me to the doctor. Thankfully I wasn't pregnant." She paused for a moment, before continuing, "But the stress of wondering if I was or wasn't, and if I was what the hell am I going to do, drove me crazy; so I know how you feel, T. The longer you wait to go to the doctors, the worse it's going to be on yourself. You need to know for sure if you or not. Go get a test done now, T. Find out once and for all."

As Teagan finally nodded her head agreeing to go, Avery added, "Do you want me to call Lydia to go with you?"

"No, I'll go." Teagan said, knowing she needed to brave and handle this on her own.

"Or you can call Isaac." Avery suggested, as she gave Teagan a look.

"Did he call you?" Teagan asked with a sigh. It wouldn't surprise her if he did.

"No. He knows I'm not very happy with him right now." Avery said. "Has he called you?"

Teagan nodded her head, as she said, "Phone calls and texts all night."

"Now look who is ignoring text." Avery pointed out, with a small chuckle, causing Teagan to shoot her a look. "Sorry, lame joke."

As if on cue, the two heard Teagan's phone began to ring. With a sigh, she pulled the phone out from her purse, then with a shake of her head, she tossed the phone back into her purse.

"Maybe you should talk to him." Avery suggested.

"Why? So he can talk more about how we can't do this?" Teagan questioned. She felt tears fill her eyes, as she blew out a breath, then said, "And you know what's so sad? That was my first thought too. There is no way in hell we can do this. We're too young to be parents and it's going to be too hard, but then..."

"Then what?" Avery asked when she paused.

"Then I thought about it more, and I thought about how no matter what has happened between us, we got through it. Isaac told me one time that we are stronger than anything that tries to tear us apart and I believed him." She explained, as she reached up to wipe the tears from her face. "I know having a baby will be hard and it'll change everything but I always thought, no matter what, we would be okay. Together we will be okay cause our love is unbreakable." She paused for a moment, trying to get better control of her emotions before continuing, "But then I heard him yelling about how I can't have his child, like it would be the worst thing in the world to have a baby together and in that moment I didn't feel that strength anymore. I didn't feel like we were a team anymore. In that moment, I felt like I lost everything."

"You haven't lost anything, Teagan." Avery argued, as she shook her head. She laid a hand on her shoulder, as she added, "He is not going to walk away from you."

"But I don't want him to stay just cause of a baby, because he feels like he has to." Teagan explained, then added,"I want him to be here cause he wants to be –not because it's the right thing to do."

"Then give him the chance to do that." Avery suggested. "You said it yourself, at first you couldn't imagine doing this then you were able to accept it. Maybe he has too. Maybe he has been thinking of it all night and he just wants to make things right. Maybe he wants to be there for you through this." She paused when they heard Teagan's phone ringing again.

Avery shook her head as she jerked Teagan's purse from her hand. She dug out the cell phone, seeing that it was Isaac calling her friend again. She placed the phone in Teagan's hand, as she said, "Talk to him. At least tell him you're going to the doctors and give him a chance to do the right thing this time."

Teagan looked down at the phone, as she licked her lips, tasting the salty tears. Then she raised her head to look at Avery as she tearfully asked, "But what if he doesn't show?"

His harsh words and reaction was heartbreaking enough. If she actually did try to include him and he didn't show, she didn't think she could ever come back from that.

"He will." Avery stated. When Teagan opened her mouth to argue, she interrupted,"Teagan, he will. You have to believe he is going to be there."

"I don't know what I believe anymore." Teagan softly said, as she wiped the tears from her face.

"Believe in the love you two have. There isn't much I do believe in, but I always believe in you two. You and Isaac show us all that there is still true love out there. You two are soul mates, Teagan. I truly believe that and you know me, I don't usually believe in things like that... until I saw it with you two." Avery said, hoping to get through to her and give her some hope.

When she saw Teagan nod her head, she reached out and squeezed her hand, as she added, "Call me later with an update, okay?"

"I will." Teagan promised. She stood still for a moment, watching Avery turn and head back for the building, until she called out her name getting her attention.

"Who was the guy?" Teagan questioned. "The one you thought you were pregnant by?"

"No one important." Avery said sadly, as she shook her head. She knew she needed to tell Teagan the full story one day, but she wasn't ready to open up about that again.

"Did he show up for you?" Teagan asked. When Avery shook her head, she added, "Maybe Isaac and that guy aren't so different then."

"Trust me, they are very different. He wasn't a very good guy at all, but Isaac? He's one of the good ones." Avery said. She gave Teagan a smile as she added, "You two are going to be okay."

Teagan nodded her head, watching as Avery turned back around and walked in to the building. "I hope you're right." Teagan whispered out to no one.

She opened the car door and slide behind the wheel, laying her purse in the passenger seat. She rested her hands on the steering wheel for a few minutes, then glanced over to look at her purse.

She released a breath, then reached over to pull out her cell phone. She flipped through her missed calls and all the text messages he left her, pleading with her to talk to him. Before she could talk herself out of it, she sent him a quick and short text, telling him she was going to the doctors to take a test, but before he could text back anything, she turned her phone off and slipped it back into her purse, before pulling out of the parking lot.

She wanted to believe what Avery said, that Isaac would show up, but she couldn't let herself believe that, to have that hope; cause if he didn't, she didn't know what she would do. All she knew was she needed her calm, but unfortunately now her calm was the reason for the storm brewing in her life and she wasn't sure if she could make it through it alone.

**~()~**

Avery's eyes slowly opened as she looked up to see Dr. Deaton standing over the table where Derek's body lay. With a sigh she realized she must have dozed back off after Teagan left earlier that day.

"How's he doing?" She asked, rubbing her still tired and blurry eyes.

"His heart rate is alarmingly high…"

Quickly she stood up and joined the veterinarian at Derek's side, looking down she grabbed Derek's hand and said, "He's warm now… that's a step up, right?"

"Avery, I'm going to try something… I need you to keep holding his hand, if that's okay?" He questioned.

She nodded and he walked over to a drawer, returning with a surgical scalpel, he glanced at Avery for a moment before he made a deep cut in Derek's arm. To both of their surprise, the wound was healing so fast no blood even had a chance to run out of the wound.

"That healed really fast." She breathed out in confusion. She knew werewolves had accelerated healing abilities, but none of them healed that fast.

"Unusually fast." He agreed, equally as confused as she was.

"What does it mean?

"I'm not sure." He admitted, then offered, "We could try something else… grab me a 5mm syringe in the top drawer."

Nodding she walked over and opened the drawer starting to retrieve what he'd asked, but stopped as she heard a noise behind her.

Both Dr. Deaton and Avery spun around to see the teenage Derek was now on his feet next to the table, his eyes glowing blue and his claws out. He was breathing heavily and looked around frantically.

"Derek!" Avery gasped as she started towards him, but stopped when he looked at them and his canine fangs started to extend.

"Derek, you're okay, you're safe." Deaton tried to assure him, but it soon became clear as he started towards them –that they might not be safe from him.

"Derek!" Avery yelled louder trying to move closer, thinking she could get through to him but Dr Deaton placed an arm in front of her and said, "Wait."

They watched as he grabbed onto the sides of his head, seeming to be in a terrible amount of pain and his glowing blue eyes now entirely focused on them.

Before anyone could respond, the werewolf took a step forward and slashed at them, catching the doctor on his arm with enough force he sent him spinning backwards where he hit a table and landed on the floor with a pained noise

"Oh my god!" Avery yelled, rushing to Deaton's side to check on him.

Hearing the doors open, they booth looked up to see Derek was gone.

Avery helped Deaton to his feet where they cleaned and bandaged his wound before she said she was going after Derek. Dr. Deaton tried to urge her to wait on her friends but she had the same feeling that had weighed on her when they were in Mexico. A feeling like time was running out.

**~()~**

Teagan took a deep breath, as she walked into the building. She didn't want to go to her regular doctor, so instead she showed up at the hospital, hoping they could give her a pregnancy test.

After speaking to someone at the front desk, then waiting close to ten minutes, she was finally taken back into a room and was told a nurse would be in shortly. She was too nervous to sit still, so instead she paced around the room, looking at the random paintings on the wall, just doing whatever to keep her mind off of the reason she was there.

When she heard the door open, she turned around and felt her eyes go wide when she saw it was Melissa. She was avoiding her own doctor for fear of being recognized, but completely forget that Melissa could be at the hospital.

"Hey, Teagan. How are you feeling today?" Melissa asked, as she smiled at the teenager.

"You know what? Actually I'm feeling a lot better now." Teagan said, wanting to make a quick exit.

"Are you sure?" Melissa asked. "Let's see what this says.." She began to say, as she looked down at the paper work they gave her about Teagan's visit. She begged Melissa not to read it, but was too late, as the older woman looked up at Teagan with a concern look on her face.

Melissa didn't say anything, as she took a step toward Teagan and wrapped her arms around her, hugging her as Teagan broke down crying.

"Shh, it's going to be okay." Melissa said, as she ran a comforting hand up and down her back. She whispered words of comfort and held on to her a little longer, then pulled back to look at her, as she said,"Isaac knows doesn't he." It was more of statement then a question. Now she understood why he was pacing around so nervously all morning.

As Teagan nodded her head, Melissa added,"And he's not here now is he?" When she shook her head, Melissa let out a breath, then asked,"Is he coming?"

Teagan reached up to wipe the tears from her face, as she shrugged her shoulders. She knew Avery believed he would show up, but she still wasn't sure. She couldn't even hope that he would, cause then if he didn't, it would destroy her.

"It's going to be okay." Melissa said, as she laid a hand on the side of her face. As tears filled Teagan's eyes, cause of the situation and the motherly touch. "First thing we are going to do is do a test. See if you are or not. Then we will go from there, okay?"

"But-But what if I am?" Teagan questioned, as tears fell down her face. "I don't know if I can do this alone."

"You'll be surprised what you can do. I told you once before that you are stronger than you even know, and I still believe that." Melissa stated. She gave her a smile, as she added,"Besides I have a feeling you won't be alone in this. You'll have your friends, your father and I'll help you any way I can."

"But first, I need to ask you some questions, then we'll do a test." Melissa said. She asked her a few personal questions, then gave her a cup to use and told her where the rest room was.

When Teagan walked back into the room, Melissa was still there, waiting for her. The two talked a few more minutes, then Melissa told her she would be back with the results as soon as she could. She told Teagan to lay back on the table and try to relax until she got back.

After Melissa left the room, Teagan let out a nervous breath. Feeling a little warm, she removed her jacket, then did what Melissa suggested, she sat down on the examination table, as she laid her jacket across her lap.

For the first several minutes, she sat up, kicking her legs as she glanced around the room, waiting for Melissa to return. As more minutes ticked by, she finally laid back against the table with a sigh, feeling her stomach in knots. Not knowing what else to do, she laid her jacket over her head, it was the closest she could get to a safety bubble, but she still didn't feel safe. The bubble never felt the same when he wasn't there with her. Nothing was the same without him there.

**~()~**

Groaning Avery grabbed onto a tree to regain her balance after nearly falling. Walking through the woods wasn't the easiest task, let alone in high heels.

She'd left the veterinarian office not too long after Derek had; it had taken her a little while to process everything that happened. But after she did, it occurred to her that Derek seemed more scared than anything.

And as a scared teenager his first instinct would be to go home. So she started her trek through the woods hoping that she found him and that when she did, he wouldn't try to maul her to death.

"_Where's my family? Where's my mother?"_

Hearing his voice she broke into a run arriving on the scene as Deputy Parrish was telling the other officer, Deputy Haigh to try a gentler touch with the seemingly confused teenage boy.

A small smile spread over her lips as she heard Deputy Parrish speaking in a calm and comforting voice to young Derek, as he asked, "Are you alright?"

When Derek didn't respond he continued, "We can help you if something's wrong."

Shaking his head Derek stated again, "This is my house… what happened to it?"

"Alright, that's enough… lets go." Haigh said, irritation laced his voice as he reached down, grabbing onto the teenagers arm and roughly pulling him up to his feet.

Avery gasped and rushed forward next to Deputy Parrish just as she watched Derek easily overpower the officer.

"Hey, it's okay… you're going to be okay." Avery tried to assure him as she ran up beside Deputy Parish but kept her attention on the younger version of Derek standing in front of them.

Letting go of the police officer, Derek turned and faced them giving her a confused look as he remembered seeing her in Mexico when he'd been brought out of the tomb. His eyes roamed her face, he had a feeling like he should have known her –but he couldn't figure out who she was.

"Avery?" Parrish said, as his gaze snapped to her, surprise apparent on his face.

Looking to Parish she quickly came up with a story to cover up Derek's behavior, "I'm really sorry about this, my friend is just having kind of a hard time… but I'll just be taking him and leaving now."

Before she could finish her sentence there was a groan of pain as the other officer tasered Derek.

"Stop it!" Avery shrieked at the same time, Parish ordered, "Stand down!"

But the officer didn't listen as he stuck the taser against Derek's chest again and her mind flashed back to be electrocuted by the Calaveras and being forced to watch Kate torture Derek with electricity the night she'd tried to kill her. And before she even knew for sure what she was doing she'd raced towards Deputy Haigh, brought her arm back and then her fist collided with the side of his face.

This time the pained groan was from the officer as he stumbled backwards and the taser fell to the ground, where she instinctively kicked it out of his reach.

Deputy Parish looked around a shocked expression on his face as Avery looked up to see Derek holding onto his sore skin and staring back at her.

"That was a huge mistake." The other officer growled as he roughly grabbed her arms and jerked them behind her back to handcuff her.

Avery gasped in pain from her arms being pulled behind her and the metal cuff scraping against her wrist.

"Hey, what are you doing to her?" Derek growled through the pain he was still feeling all over his body from being electrocuted.

"Haigh, let her go!" Deputy Parrish ordered as he rushed over to them.

"Let her go?" The other officer asked with a bitter laugh, "She just assaulted a police officer."

Derek looked around confused and still feeling the effects from taser, his eyes blinked rapidly as they tried to focus and he took a stumbling step towards the group intending to help the unfamiliar teenager girl who'd just helped him.

"Cuff him, we're bringing them both in for this." Haigh instructed, he tightened the cuffs on Avery and she hissed out in pain.

"You're hurting her." Parrish angrily declared as he put a hand on Avery's upper arm and said, "I've got her, you get the other one."

"We're just trying to do our jobs." Haigh called out as he watched Parrish led Avery towards the police truck.

One they were out of ear shot next to the truck he asked, "Avery, what the hell is going on?"

"It's complicated." She answered with a frown as their eyes locked. She hated lying to him, but at the moment she couldn't even begin to tell him the truth.

"Complicated?" He said in a hushed whisper. The angry expression on his face faded as he watched her, "You have to tell me what's going on here. I can't help if you don't."

"It's… complicated." She breathed shaking her head at herself. Here he was trying to help her and clearly worried but she couldn't give him any peace of mind.

His jaw tensed and she knew he was trying to not get angry with her.

"Alright…" He sighed, glancing over his shoulder to where Haigh was leading a handcuffed Derek towards them, "Then who's he?"

Avery looked up, seeing the teenage version of Derek looking back at her obviously, listening to their entire conversation from where he was as she blew out a heavy breath and admitted, "That… is very, very complicated."

"And that's not an answer." He argued, but before he could say anything else, he had to help Avery up into the backseat of the police truck, next to Derek to be taken to the station.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you all for reading! **

**We own an extra special thank you to the two guests, xxxRena, Camelotand221b, 19irene96 and SmellYourScentForMiles who were all kind enough to review chapter 6.**


	8. We Wait

**Chapter Eight – We Wait**

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><p>Teagan wasn't sure how long she had laid there with her jacket over her head, when finally she heard the door open and someone walk in. She knew it had to be Melissa and even though she wanted to hear the results, she was too nervous to sit up, but when she heard him clear his throat, she jerked the jacket from her head and sat up with a surprise look on her face.<p>

"Isaac." She breathed out. She couldn't believe he was actually there, standing in the room with her. She felt tears fill her eyes as she stood up from the table taking a few steps toward him.

She could tell from the look on his face that his night was about as bad as hers. He was up all night beating himself up; for the way he reacted, the things he said to her, the thoughts running through his head. He thought about it all.

When he finally got that text from her, he knew he had to go to her. He needed to talk to her, let her know he was there no matter what and he didn't want to lose her. He knew this was his one and only shot of making things right.

"I would have been here sooner, but I-I didn't know which doctor you were going to. I called all around town, but no one would tell me anything." Isaac explained, as he took a step toward her. "Finally Melissa called me and told me you were here so I rushed right over here."

"I just- I need to explain." He pleaded, as he took another step, ending up in front of her. "You have every right to throw my ass out of here, but please listen to me, okay?"

When she nodded her head, he blew out a relieved breath. Step one was done; she agreed to hear him out, now he just had to hope she would forgive him.

"I'm sorry." Isaac breathed out. "I know that doesn't make up for the way I acted, but I am sorry for hurting you."

"What about what you said?" Teagan questioned. "Are you sorry about the things you said or just the way you reacted?"

"I-I was... I, uh..."

He began to stutter out an answer Teagan shook her head as she folded her arms across her chest, then said, "Why would having a baby with me be so terrible, Isaac? We love each other or at least I thought we did, so how could something that comes from us be such a bad thing?"

"No that's not..." Isaac began to say, as he ran his hands through his hair. "That's not- It's not you, Teagan. It's me. I do love you, I love you so damn much, but I can't.."

"You can't what?" She asked when he paused.

"I can't be a father. I can't be him, Teagan."

"Him?" Teagan questioned, feeling confused, until she realized what he meant. He meant his father, he didn't want to be like him. His reaction before was starting to make a lot more sense now.

She shook her head as she said his name, but before she could say anything he continued, "You know how my past was, my home life."

"But Isaac that's not- you wouldn't be that way. You are nothing like your father."

"You don't know that. You can't know that, Teagan." Isaac said, as he shook his head. He took a few steps away from her, then turned back around to face her, as he added, "My dad wasn't always the way he was. I don't really know what turned him into such a mean son of bitch. Maybe it was losing mom, or Camden, or maybe it was just life in general, but something changed him. One day his temper just got the best of him and things just got worst from there."

"But that doesn't mean the same thing is going to happen to you." Teagan pointed out, as she reached out to grab his hand, until he pulled away from her.

"But I have already." Isaac argued, referring to the time when her mom was haunting her and she tried to hurt him. In the process of stopping her, he had hurt her. "I lost my temper with you, Teagan. It was so easy for me to slip. It was so easy for me to hurt you."

"You had to, or I would have hurt you." Teagan pointed out. Reminding him that if he would not have hurt her, she would have hurt him, she wouldn't have been able to stop herself.

"Don't." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "You can't keep making excuses for me."

"I'm not. I'm just telling the truth." Teagan said back. She walked over to him, laying her hands on either side of his face, as she said, "Hey, look at me. You are not your father; you could never be your father. You could never be that mean or hateful to me or anyone innocent. That is just not who you are." She leaned forward, resting her forehead against his, as she softly added, "You are Isaac Lahey, the boy who changed my life with one kiss."

Isaac pulled back to look at her, then laid a hand on her cheek, before leaning forward and pressing his lips against hers for a gentle kiss. He lightly stroked her cheek, before he whispered out, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for everything."

"It's okay." Teagan whispered, as she gave him a small smile. "I'm just glad you're here. Honestly, I wasn't even sure if you were coming."

Isaac shook his head, as he pulled her toward him, kissing the side of her head then holding her tight. He hated that he made her think for one minute that he would leave her. He promised he would never walk away and he meant it.

"I'm sorry." He softly said, apologizing again, as he pulled back to look at her. He rested his hands on the side of her neck, as he continued, "I never want you to think you are ever alone. I am always here for you. I'm never walking away." He gave her a smile, as he lightly stroked her cheeks, and said, "You and me... we're everything."

Teagan smiled at his words as she wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face in his shirt, his scent calming her down. When she felt him kiss the top of her head, she said, "I know this is a big step for us, but if I am...pregnant. We'll figure something out together, okay? We'll figure this out."

Isaac nodded his head, as he ran a hand up her back and laid it on the back of her head, cradling her head. She was right, this was a big step for them, but together they could get through it. Together maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

The more he held her, the more relaxed he felt. He softly smiled as a thought struck him, something they had talked about before for the future, but now he was starting to think maybe they were ready for it now. This was already a life changing day, so why not add another life changing decision on top of it.

With his arms still wrapped around her, holding her tight, he kissed the top of her head, before saying, "We could get married."

"What?" Teagan breathed out as she pulled back to look at him.

"We've talked about it before, so why wait?" Isaac pointed out, with a shrug. "I love you, Teagan, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"And we will, but we don't have to get married just cause I'm pregnant." Teagan said.

"At the moment, we don't even know if you are or not."

"Exactly, so why even ask now until we know for sure."

Isaac smiled, as he laid his hands on either side of her face, before saying, "Because I'm not asking cause you could be pregnant. I'm asking cause I want to marry you. I want to be with you, now and forever."

Teagan laid her hands on his, removing them from her face and gave them a squeeze, before she said, "I'll make you a deal. I'm going to say yes; but this is more of a pre engagement. I want you to ask me another day, a day when we're not about to find out something life changing; a day where it can be just about that, just about us starting our life together, okay?"

Isaac nodded his head in understanding, as he brought their joined hands up to his lips, kissing the back of her hand. He ran his finger against her finger before softly saying, "One day I'm going to put a ring on that."

"And one day, I'm going to say yes." Teagan said back, as she smiled at him.

Isaac smiled back, as he laid a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her toward him for a gentle kiss. He knew now wasn't the most romantic way to propose, but he just wanted her to know that no matter what, baby or not, he wanted to be with her for all his life. She was it for him.

Teagan rested her forehead against his and blew out a breath. It's not that she didn't want to say yes now, she just didn't want him to ask now cause she might be pregnant, then regret it later for asking too soon. She wanted them to get engaged and get married for the right reasons.

The two held each other close, until they heard the door open, then turned to see Melissa walk in. She smiled at the couple, then looked at Isaac, as she said, "It's good to see you here."

Isaac nodded his head as he said, "Thank you for calling me."

Melissa nodded her head back as if to say you're welcome. She looked down at the papers in her hand, then looked back up at them as she said, "I guess there is no need to prolong this. I have some good news for you two." She paused for a moment, seeing the scared looks on both of their faces as she continued, "You are not pregnant."

"Oh, thank God." Isaac breathed out, as he kissed the side of her head.

"Yeah, that's-that's good news." Teagan said with no emotion.

"My guess is with everything going on you were stressed and just missed a period, then got a false positive on a test. It happens more than you think." Melissa explained. "It would probably be a good idea to go get on birth control." She held out a few pamphlets, as she added, "Give those a read and if you want to go, but need someone to go with you, I'll go with you, okay?"

"Thank you." Teagan said sincerely. She stepped forward to hug the older woman, thanking for her for everything. It felt nice to have a motherly presence in her life.

After talking to Melissa a few minutes longer, she left the couple alone. Isaac smiled over at Teagan, pulling her toward him to hug her, as he talked about how great it was that she wasn't pregnant. She wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her head against his chest, a million different thoughts running through her head. She finally knew the truth, but had no idea what she thought about it. Even if she wasn't pregnant, she still couldn't help but think that this was still a life changing moment. She had a feeling things would never be the same again.

**~()~**

Derek pulled on the handcuff that was chaining his wrist down to a bench in the station, and sighed as he looked over to see Deputy Parrish securing Avery to the bench beside him.

"Oh no, we can't stay here." Avery said with raised eyebrows as she motioned between herself and Derek.

Parrish raised his head and looked at her from where he was knelt down and said, "You know I can't let either of you leave, not yet at least."

"But…" She started to argue, her voice trailed off as she looked down to see he'd loosened the cuff on her wrist. "You hit a deputy, Avery." He reminded her, slowly pulled his hand away from hers.

Derek looked over at them after he heard both of their hearts pick up speed when their skin touched.

Their eyes locked and they both fell silent for a moment before Derek spoke up, "How long am I being held here?"

Clearing his throat, Parrish stood up and pulled his eyes away from Avery as he answered, "I'm not sure yet. We're going to try and get you both out of here as soon as possible."

Without another word he walked off towards another room, pausing at the door way to glance back at the blonde teen one last time.

Once he was out sight Avery tugged on the cuff and let out a frustrated noise as she hung her head, shaking it back and forth.

Leaning over young Derek quietly asked, "If your boyfriend's a cop, why don't you just get him to let us go?"

Avery looked over to him with wide eyes as she stuttered out, "N-no, he's not my…" Closing her eyes and shaking her head she snapped, "He's just not!"

"Okay…" He breathed making a face like he didn't believe her, he'd heard both of their hearts pick up speed when they were near each other.

"Sorry." She apologized for snapping at him, then tried to explain her reaction, "It's just really weird talking about this kind of thing… with you."

He turned back to face her with an even more confused expression.

Finally after a few moments of silence, he questioned "Why did you do that?"

She looked over at him and swallowed hard, what on earth could she tell him that wouldn't make her sound like the crazy one?

"What?" He questioned as she continued to stare at him, her eyes tracing over his features.

Managing to pull her eyes away she looked down to her lap and said, "You may not remember me, but we're actually really close… and I'd do just about anything for you."

His confused expression grew, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"I know… but we'll figure it out together." She assured him as she grabbed his hand that was chained to the bench beside hers.

He looked down to their hands and then to her face with raised eyebrows as he heard her heart pick up speed, much more than when she and the deputy had been around each other.

"Oh my god… I'm so sorry." She exclaimed as she let go of him. It was difficult to look at him and not want to comfort him, she had no idea what all Kate had done to him. But she'd have to keep reminding herself that he didn't have a clue who she was and she should keep her hands and emotions to herself.

His eyes lingered on his hand where her skin had touched his, then slowly moved over to where her short skirt slid up her outer thigh as she adjusted on the uncomfortable seat.

"It's uh- it's okay." He said as his eyes moved from her bare legs to her face as a small smile spread over his lips.

"I don't remember you though." He said, his tone seeming slightly apologetic.

"I know." She nodded, frowning a little.

Looking around for a moment he continued, "Not that I wouldn't want to know you, it's just that I don't remember you."

Quickly she turned her head and looked back at him as she questioned, "Are you saying you want to get to know me?"

His eyes dropped to where her short skirt was revealing her lean, lightly tanned legs before he shot her a cocky smile –causing her to let out a small laugh as she shook her head at him.

As their conversation dropped off again, she absentmindedly tugged on the handcuffs.

"I could break out of these, you know." He said glancing at her from the corner of his eyes.

Cracking a smile she said, "So could I." Getting out of even police issued handcuffs was something she'd picked up in her training with Allison.

Sighing she looked around the station and said, "I wish we could. I have some people, my friends who can help you remember things… but we can't break out of here because it wouldn't look good for someone."

Nodding he watched her with raised brows as he guessed, "You mean, us breaking out of here would get your not-boyfriend into trouble?"

When she cocked her head and shot him an unamused look he shrugged, "I could still get out of these cuffs though."

Playfully she narrowed her eyes and shot back, "I could too. But we can't."

Hearing footsteps she looked up to see the officer who'd tasered Derek walk over to a desk facing them.

"I'd like my phone call, please?" Avery announced loudly, demanding everyone's attention.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you assaulted an officer of the law." He said.

"Ooh, an officer of the law? Such a big fancy title, you trying to compensate for something not so big?" she shot at him with narrowed eyes.

She heard Derek stifle a laugh from beside her as she confronted the controlling cop.

Before he could respond she continued, "If you're not going to give me a phone call, then maybe you should make it for me? Go ahead, call Paul Young, esquire. And for dumb asses like you, esquire means attorney. And I'm sure he'd love to know why his daughter's life long best friend is being held without a parent or guardian present. I'm a minor after all."

He ignored her as he stared at his computer screen, trying to figure out why when they'd fingerprinted the teenage boy, the results came back as someone older.

"Yeah, we get a phone call, right?" Derek spoke up, nodding in agreement with Avery.

Avery glanced over at him and their eyes met for a few seconds before she heard the officer saying something again about how she'd assaulted him.

"Am I getting my phone call?" She questioned.

But he took a deep breath and ignored her, trying to stay focused on the computer screen.

"Do you have any idea who I am?" She snapped, when he continued to ignore her.

"I don't care who you think you are." He shot back at her.

Her jaw dropped in disbelief at his words then she took a deep breath and composed herself as she leaned forward on the bench and said, "You say I assaulted a police officer? I say it was self-defense against police brutality… and I'll tell you something, my father has an entire team of lawyers that I really don't think someone at your pay grade is prepared to go up against because you will lose."

Deputy Haigh raised his head from the computer screen and looked at her, as he opened his mouth with a comeback, Derek loudly exclaimed, "If I were you, I'd let her make her phone call."

Hearing Avery yelling from the other room, Deputy Parrish rushed back into the room the teens were being held in.

"Why are you yelling?" He questioned.

"I want my phone call." She stated.

Giving her a friendly smile he said, "I don't see why that should be a problem."

Carrying the desk phone over to her he sat it down on the bench beside her hand that wasn't cuffed to the bench.

Picking up the phone she first called Stiles and told him he needed to get to the police station as soon as possible.

As she hung the phone up and started to lift it back off the receiver, Parrish started back towards her.

"I'm taking his phone call too." She stated, nodding to Derek as she called Teagan's number, but her friend's phone went to voicemail.

She started to leave a message letting Teagan know she was okay, but that she might need her dad's help, the message ended and her voice trailed off as she saw Stiles' dad walk into the room through a far door. "Actually, never mind. Stiles' dad just got here. Let me know when you find something out."

When Parrish came back to get the phone he removed the handcuffs from Avery, then knelt down in front of Derek as he said, "The other deputy thinks I'm an idiot for even asking this, but I have a feeling if I take these cuffs off… were gonna be okay? Then you can help us figure out what happened to your family and we can get you out of here."

Derek looked at Parrish then over to Avery who offered him a smile. The teenager nodded in agreement and Avery smiled at how polite and kind the deputy always was.

Nodding to the guy who'd tased him Derek exclaimed, "The other deputy's an idiot." Causing Avery to smile widely at him as he were the only person in the room with her.

"Can't argue with that." Parrish laughed.

"Parrish, get over here." The other deputy called him over to show him that they'd gotten a match on the fingerprints but the findings didn't make any sense.

Avery rubbed her sore wrist and looked at her hand where there was an open wound on the palm of her hand.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked when he saw it.

Opening and closing her hand she cringed, "I'm fine, my ring just got turned around and cut me when I hit him."

Reaching over he gently took her hand and inspected her bloody palm, glancing back up to her as her hastened heartbeat gave her feelings away again.

A smile toyed at the corner of her glossy pink lips as she repeated, "I'm fine… it's just a little cut, it would take a lot more than that to take me down."

"I don't doubt that… you've got a hell of a right hook." He joked, causing her to smile widely at him.

It was almost like meeting him for the first time again.

"Derek Hale?" Parrish read out loud from the computer screen, breaking the two teen's concentration and Derek let go of her hand. The young deputy looked between the teens, growing more confused by the second.

Hearing the familiar name Sheriff Stilinski walked over and questioned, "Hale?" He looked at the computer screen and then up to the two teens.

He nodded to Avery and started to ask what she was doing there when his voice trailed off as he looked at Derek, then back down to the computer screen.

After a few more double takes, he knelt down to get a better look at young Derek then quickly walked back to the computer.

Just as he started to ask what was going on, Scott and Stiles ran into the room their shoes screeching on the floor as they came to a stop.

Looking from Avery to his son and his best friend, he told the deputies, "I'll take it from here."

**~()~**

After leaving the hospital, Teagan and Isaac went to her house. They walked into the empty house together, being greeted by Aspen. Isaac offered to let the dog out while she went into the living room to relax.

A few minutes later, he walked into the living room to join her and saw her lying on the couch. He held out a bottle of water he brought for her from the kitchen then sat down on the couch beside her as she sat up to drink from the bottle.

"You want to watch a movie or something?" Isaac suggested as he nodded his head toward the TV.

"Not really." Teagan said, as she lie back on the couch. "Today has been the longest day and it's not even half way over yet."

"I know what you mean, today just seems to be dragging on." Isaac said with a nod. "Seems like forever ago when we got back from Mexico, but that was just last night."

As Teagan nodded her head in agreement, he joked, "I think this whole pregnancy scare thing took a few years off of us. I feel so old all of a sudden."

"Yeah." Teagan breathed out.

He reached out to lay his hand on top of hers, which were resting on her stomach, as he said, "I got to say, I am really relieved that you're not pregnant. I mean, I'm sure we would have made it work somehow, but we're not ready for that."

"Yeah, we're just too young for that now. We really lucked out." Teagan said with no emotion.

Isaac chalked it up to it being an emotional day and she was tired, never knowing what was really going through her head.

"Yeah we did." He agreed. "To be honest I don't think we'll ever be ready for that. Or at least I won't be."

"Really?" Teagan asked, as she lowered her eyebrows in confusion. She knew he was scared, mostly about turning into his own father, but after talking at the hospital she thought they were back on the same page.

"Yeah." Isaac said with a nod. "I mean, I know you believe I could never be my dad, and I want to believe that, Teagan, I do, but the thought still terrifies me."

"Well, luckily, we don't have to worry about that now." Teagan said with a small smile, as she squeezed his hand. "But in the future-"

"Hopefully in the future we won't have to worry about it either." Isaac interrupted. When he saw the look on her face, he added, "I guess this is something we should have talked about before."

"It's fine." Teagan said with a tight smile. She was too tried to get into now. With everything that had happened and was said, hearing him flat out say he doesn't want kids was not something she wanted to discuss now.

"I promise you, it's not you or anything." Isaac explained, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. "After every punishment from my dad, I would always tell myself, I wouldn't be that way. I'm not going to be that mean or hateful. I never wanted to lose my temper on someone like that, and I always figured the best way to do that, is by not having kids. I can't be a crappy dad if I'm not one at all."

Teagan looked up at him, not saying a word. What could she say? She couldn't change his mind, and it wasn't even like she wanted to have babies now, but one day she did. But where did that leave them if he didn't at all?

She sat back up, then reached out to grab the bottle of water, taking a quick sip, then stood up from the couch, taking him by surprise.

"Where are you going?" Isaac asked, as he looked up at her.

"I was thinking of taking a nap in my room or at least laying in bed and watching some TV." She answered. She just wanted her bed. After the trip to Mexico, the arguing with Isaac, the pregnancy scare and not getting much sleep the night before, she felt like she was going to drop.

"Want me to come with you?" Isaac offered, as he stood up. He couldn't help but feel like she was pulling away and that was the last thing he wanted to happen. He walked over to her, laying a hand on the side of her face, as he added, "We could get under the safety bubble. I saw you trying to do that earlier at the hospital."

"Yeah, but it didn't work. It never works without you." She stated, as she flashed him a soft smile.

He lightly stroked her cheek as he looked at her closely before asking, "We're okay, right?"

Teagan nodded her head as she quietly said, "Yeah, we're okay."

Needing to make things right he suggested, "How about I go grab some Chinese? You probably haven't eaten much lately cause of stress and I know you love Chinese."

"That sounds good." Teagan said, as she raised up on her tip toes to brush her lips against his for a quick kiss.

She turned to walk toward the stairs, but before she could take a step, he reached out to grab her arm and pulled her back toward him. He laid his hands on either side of her face as he pressed his lips against hers putting everything he was feeling into the kiss, trying to show her how sorry he was about everything. He just wanted things to go back to the way they were, like when they were in Long Beach, when things were stress free and they could just be a normal couple. No drama, no monsters of the week; they could just be Teagan and Isaac.

"I love you." Isaac breathed out, as he rested his forehead against hers.

"I love you." Teagan whispered back, causing him to smile. Just hearing the words from her mouth eased his mind. He would never grow tired of hearing those words from her.

He gave her forehead a tender kiss, before saying, "I'll be back soon."

Teagan smiled as she nodded her head to tell him bye. She turned to walk over to the stairs. She had only taken a few steps, when Isaac opened the door to leave, then began to talk to someone.

She turned around to see who it was and saw it was Lydia and Kira at the door. Teagan smiled at her friends as she rested her hands on the handrail. "Hey, what are you two doing here?" She asked.

"Since you weren't in school I thought I would bring your homework." Lydia said. She looked over at Isaac, as she added, "I grabbed yours too."

"You didn't have to do that." Isaac said, as he made a disgusted face. He always hated homework.

Teagan chuckled at the face he made, then looked at her red-headed friend as she said, "Thank you, Lydia. And Isaac says thank you too."

"Actually, no, I don't. You can keep mine." Isaac stated.

"As I was saying, thank you, Lydia." Teagan spoke, as she shook her head at her boyfriend with a smile on her face. "Come on in, you two." She said to her friends.

"I'm going to go grab some Chinese, do you two want anything?" Isaac offered.

"No, thanks." Kira said.

"Yeah, we're not staying long." Lydia added.

Isaac nodded his head at their answers, then said, "Well I'll be back soon."

Once he was out the door, Teagan nodded her head toward the stairs, telling the two girls to follow her. They followed Teagan into her bedroom, as Teagan took the work from Lydia and laid it on her desk, before turning around to face Lydia and Kira.

"Well you and Isaac look pretty happy, so I'm going to guess you two made up and I'm also going to guess that you're not pregnant." Lydia said.

"Nope, not pregnant." Teagan said with an unreadable expression.

"That's a good thing, right?" Kira questioned, as she sat down in the desk chair.

"Yeah, it's a good thing." Teagan softly said.

"Doesn't sound like it's a good thing." Lydia pointed out, as she sat down on the edge of the bed.

"No, it is a good thing." Teagan said, as she ran a hand through her hair. "It's just... I dunno, I'm not saying I am ready for a baby now, but one day I think I do want one, but..."

"But what?" Kira asked, when she paused.

"But Isaac doesn't." Teagan sadly said.

"He said that?" Lydia questioned. As Teagan nodded her head to answer, Lydia blew out a breath, as she said, "I'm sorry, T."

"Maybe he'll change his mind?" Kira offered, hoping to cheer her friend up. "We're all young and can't imagine having kids, but once we are older, maybe he'll change his mind. I mean he loves you and you two would have cute babies."

"Thanks." Teagan said, as she flashed her a small smile. "But he feels really strongly against it and I understand where he is coming from, it is completely understandable. It just sucks. It sucks that I can imagine it now, I can imagine a little girl with his blue eyes or a little boy with his curly hair, and now there is a good chance it'll never happen."

"What are you going to do?" Lydia questioned.

"I don't know." Teagan softly said, as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, if you ever need to talk ..." Lydia began to say, as she stood up from the bed. She walked over to Teagan, giving her a hug, as she continued. "I'm here for you, T."

"Thanks, Lydia." Teagan said as she hugged her back.

"I wish I could stay longer, but I need to go fill up the car and then get it home." Lydia said. "Mom needs the car for something, I don't remember why though." She lied, not wanting to tell her friend how things were getting bad for her and her mother. They were having to share a car at the moment until they had enough money to get her mother's car fixed.

"It's fine, I understand." Teagan said with a smile. She gave her friend another hug, thanking her again for bringing her the work she missed at school. The last thing she needed to do was get behind again. It felt like it took her forever to get caught up after being haunted by her mother and going out of her mind.

As Kira went to stand up, her arm knocked something off of the desk. She quickly apologized, then picked it up, noticing it was a necklace, the one Teagan found recently.

"Oh, my God! Is that what I think it is?" Lydia asked, as she took the necklace from Kira's hand.

"Yeah, I found it in some of my mom's stuff recently." Teagan said with a smile. "Do you have still have yours?" She asked.

"It's probably packed up somewhere at home or in my grandma's stuff." Lydia answered, then added, "After she passed we got all of her stuff, but I haven't been able to go through it yet."

"It's a pretty necklace." Kira said, as smiled over at Teagan. "I guess the 'T' stands for your name?"

"Yeah." Teagan said with a nod. "Lydia has one with a 'L' and Avery had one with a 'A'. We wore those necklaces all the time. We made them one weekend at her grandma's." She explained.

"Grandma always had little projects for us to do." Lydia said with a smile as she remembered all the weekends they would spend with her.

"You remember all her books?" Teagan asked the red-head. She looked over at Kira, as she explained," Her grandma had all these old school fairy tale stories. She even had some of the old creepy ones, that Avery loved reading."

"That's cause Avery has always been a little creepy." Lydia pointed out. She looked up from the necklace as she added," And I mean that with love."

"Hey, speaking of Avery, have you talked to her lately?" Teagan asked. "I saw her this morning at the clinic, but I haven't called her yet with an update or even checked my phone yet."

"So you haven't heard the latest." Kira said.

"No, what's the latest? Is everything okay?" Teagan asked with a worried look.

"Derek woke up and freaked out. Avery tracked him down at the Hale house, then they got arrest." Lydia explained.

"What? Why?" Teagan asked.

"I don't know. I haven't actually talked to her, but she called Stiles from the station." Lydia answered.

"So what do we do now?" Teagan asked, as with a shrug. She couldn't help but think this was exactly the type of stuff she was worried about that would happen now that Derek was back in Avery's life.

"I guess we just wait." Lydia said.

"I hate waiting." Teagan breathed out. After waiting on the huge life changing moment in her life recently, the last thing she wanted to do was wait anymore. She wanted to save Avery. She wanted to jump into action, she wanted to fix things, but at the moment they still didn't even know what was going on with Derek; how to change him back. Which meant for now, they had to wait.

**~()~**

"Okay, here's the deal. We can get you out of here… but then you're coming with us." Stiles said as he looked to where Derek was sitting on the couch, in the sheriff's office.

Stiles' dad was letting them borrow the room to talk to him.

"Why would I go anywhere with you?" He asked them.

Stiles sighed and Scott stepped forward, "There was an accident you lost some memory, but we can help you get it back."

"How much memory?" Derek questioned.

"A lot. But you can trust us." Scott said as he showed Derek his red eyes.

"You're an alpha…"

Scott nodded.

"Okay, then who are you? Who is he, who is she?" I don't know any of you!" Derek yelled, growing frustrated.

With a sigh Avery walked forward and pushed Scott to the side, she knelt down so he could get a better look at her.

"Okay, look at me… do you have any memories of me, at all?" She asked, holding her breath as she waited on an answer.

He stared at her for a few moments before shaking his head back and forth, "I don't even know your name."

A hurt expression fell over her face and she nodded.

"Okay… that's okay, we can work with this." She said out loud, but she was really trying to convince herself.

"Can we?" Stiles asked as he leaned against his father's desk.

"My name is Avery Dukate…" she started to explain, but he cut her off.

Smiling he said, "I thought you kind of looked familiar."

Her heart raced with hope and excitement, thinking that somehow their connection was still alive and well.

"You're related to Aleine Dukate, right?"

Avery's heart sank, people were always telling her how much she looked like her mother. It hadn't even occurred to her that he'd bring up her mom and when he did it let open a floodgate of painful memories.

She slowly nodded her head.

Derek's smile grew, "That's great! Just call her and she can tell us where my family is."

Avery swallowed hard and looked down to the floor as a somber feeling came over the room.

"What?" He questioned.

"She can't help us… she's dead." Avery bluntly stated, not sure how to even answer his questions.

"What… how?" He gasped. Aleine had been a good friend of his mother's; in fact his entire family trusted her.

"It happened a while ago." Avery said before she shook her head back and forth.

Then she realized she could use her mom's relationship with the Hale family to her advantage.

"Okay, you knew my mom and you know how much your family trusted her… that means you can trust me." She assured him, hoping he'd believe her.

Seeing his reluctance Stiles looked up from where there was some overdue bill notices on his dad's desk and tried to reason with the teen, "Alright, dude… you almost tore apart two cops. You need to listen to us and that starts with no fangs, no claws, no wolf man. You got that? Because we're the ones keeping you out of jail."

"I'm fine as long as it's not on the full moon." He admitted avoiding Scott's eyes.

"You still have trouble with the full moon?" He asked, he'd always thought that Derek hadn't had trouble controlling his shifting.

Looking around the room he said, "You want me to trust you? Start by telling me where my family is and what happened to my house."

When no one else spoke up Avery said, "Okay, Derek… the truth is –there was a fire."

She saw tears well up in his eyes and she couldn't finish telling him, her mouth literally wouldn't move to let her finish.

"A fire?" He questioned.

"Your family isn't here anymore. But they're fine, they just had to move out of Beacon Hills. We're going to take you to them as soon as we figure out how to get your memories back." Scott lied, he didn't have the heart to tell a teenage Derek the grim fate of his family.

Stiles looked at his friend wide eyed and Avery's jaw dropped.

Derek looked to Avery, waiting on her to verify Scott's story. "Yeah." She nodded, her voice was a little hoarse as she spoke.

Letting out the breath he'd been holding, he nodded, "Okay."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- We hope you guys all liked the chapter. ^_^**

**Thank you to xxhanschaxx, SmellYourScentForMiles, BloomingBlueMoon85, xxxRena and to dianikis for reading and being kind enough to leave a review on chapter 7! We really appreciate it!**


	9. Heist

**Chapter Nine - Heist **

* * *

><p>After a painfully long, awkward drive to Scott's house, Stiles finally parked in the driveway when Derek questioned for the hundredth time why he couldn't just call his mom.<p>

They were waiting on Scott to get help from Peter and then everyone else was supposed to meet them at Scott's house later on that night.

"We're gonna wait here on Scott, we're just gonna sit here quietly. And we're not gonna call or talk to anyone." Stiles instructed as they walked inside of the dimly lit house.

"Am I allowed to talk to you?" Derek shot back at him, as Avery closed the door behind the trio.

"No." Stiles answered.

"Good." Replied Derek without missing a beat.

"Fine."

"Oh my god, you guys stop it." Avery sighed in irritation as she rubbed her forehead.

"Let's talk to him." Derek said as he pointed to where Scott's dad was standing in the kitchen.

"Oh –god, do you keep getting taller?" Stiles exclaimed, startled.

"Uh, you know… maybe we should just go to my house." Avery offered.

"What are you doing here?" Scott's dad, Raf questioned them with a surprised expression.

"I thought we were waiting here on Scott?" Derek asked Avery confused.

"So am I, we're supposed to have dinner." Raf said as he sat the bag of take-out down on the table.

"I got extra, you guys hungry?" He questioned the teens.

"No." Stiles and Avery replied at the same time, but Derek had already answered, "Yes."

Looking at him Stiles said, "We're not hungry."

"No, I'm starving." Derek argued, for the first time realizing just how hungry he was.

"Neither of us are hungry." Stiles loudly said, shooting Derek a look.

"You know there's food at my house, or we could order something… like anything, any food you want." Avery scrambled to try and get Derek out of the house.

"Literally anything… her dad's loaded." Stiles chimed in.

"I've got food here." Scott's dad said, watching them with a confused expression.

When Derek started to take a step forward towards the table, Avery backed what Stiles said, "It's true… my family has a lot of money."

Derek slightly cocked his head to the side and stared at her questioningly.

"He owns a bank." Stiles continued.

"I don't care about that… I want food, not money. I'm starving." Derek said looking between them not understanding what was happening.

"You know Stiles, even if you're not hungry your friend can still eat with us. What's your name?" Scott's dad questioned.

Avery opened her mouth to come up with a name but before she could Stiles blurted out, "Miguel. My cousin Miguel, from Mexico."

She looked over at him as he slapped Derek's shoulder and pulled him closer to him like they were good friends.

"Es usted natural de Mexico, Miguel?"

Stiles' eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he looked to Avery to save the day, when they'd been in Mexico it had been Lydia and Avery who had done most of the talking. "Well, he wasn't exactly born there…" Avery started to say but Derek surprised them all as he effortlessly responded, "No soy native sino pase un monton tiempo alli."

"Fantastic." Raf approved, then asked, "Egg roll?"

"Hell yeah." Derek said smiling as he breezed past Avery and Stiles to join Scott's dad at the table.

Excitedly Stiles rubbed the sweat that had beaded on his forehead and looked to Avery relieved, but frowned when he saw the look on her face as she stared to where Derek was sitting.

"What's wrong? That worked perfectly." He whispered.

"Nothing, you're right." She said forging a smile.

But as she took a seat at the table her smile faded again. Even after as long as she'd dated Derek, she never knew he was fluent in Spanish or even that he apparently loved egg rolls. She knew it was silly to be upset about that when they had so many bigger issues at hand, but it was still weighing on her mind.

"Sure you're not hungry, Avery?" Raf asked as he saw Derek grab his third egg roll.

"No thank you, I've kind of lost my appetite." She admitted her voice soft as she stared down to the table. Normally she'd have an attitude with her friend's dad but after that day she didn't have the strength to cop an attitude with him.

After a few moments she looked back up to see Derek was watching her before he turned to answer one of Scott's dads questions, as he kept attempting to make small talk with the teens.

"So, Miguel what did you say your last name is again?" He asked, knowing that he hadn't been given a last time.

"It's a…Juarez… Cinqua... Tiago."

Avery's eyes bugged at the slew of Spanish sounding names Stiles had clumsily given.

"I believe he wanted one last name Stiles, not three." She hissed under her breath, in response he took a bite of the food from his plate and gave her an apologetic look.

"That's uh – that's a mouthful." Raf said, disbelief in his tone.

"Yep." He nodded, mentally kicking himself for the screw up.

Avery opened her mouth to try and change the subject but stopped when she saw Derek holding back a laugh.

The corners of her lips angled up at the sight of him smiling. She'd seen him smile before, mostly at her. But to see a teenage version of him, eating dinner and laughing warmed her to the core.

He was happy, worried about his family and confused as hell, sure. But he believed his family was okay, he thought he was going to get go home and see them again. But the truth broke her heart, she knew he'd never see them again… not alive anyway.

When Scott's dad asked them to spell Miguel's last name, and Stiles looked at Derek for help. He was met by a small shrug and cocky smile from Derek who nodded for Stiles to try and get out of his own mess.

Her gaze fell from his face to the table as she took a few deep breaths, when tears stung her eyes.

It was in that moment that it really hit her; that at one point Derek was a normal teenager not so entirely different from her and her friends. But it had all been stolen from him, one heartbreak after another had darkened the world for him.

Constant pain and guilt had turned him into the seemingly emotionless Derek Hale, that they knew today. Of course she knew better than anyone that he wasn't emotionless, he was capable of all emotions, even love. Which he'd shown her on countless occasions like the way he'd looked at her as if it were his mission in life was to protect her.

Since that was the only Derek she'd really known, she'd fooled herself into believing he'd always been so guarded and damaged, but now she knew differently.

"Avery?"

Derek's voice broke her concentration and her eyes focused on the wooden table top right as a tear splashed against the polished surface.

Her hands quickly went to brushing the tears away from her cheeks, she hadn't even realized she'd been crying.

"Are you okay?" Young Derek asked her, concern flooded over his face as he stared at the blonde teenager.

As she looked back to Derek, another tear ran down her face she scooted her chair back and excused herself from the table, "I'm sorry… this is just a lot to take in."

As she headed down the hallway to the bathroom she heard Raf ask, "What is she talking about? We were talking about Miguel's name?"

"Right… yeah, she's uh –she'll be fine. Big last names just kind of overwhelm her." Stiles blurted out, unable to focus under pressure before his face twisted into a cringe at his inability to stop talking.

After taking a few minutes to calm herself down she walked back into the kitchen right as Scott's dad finished telling Derek about how almost every member of the family had perished in the Hale house fire.

She stared at Stiles wide eyed and he shrugged, he'd tried to divert the conversation when Derek found out Raf was an F.B.I agent, but his attempts had proven useless.

"Thank you for dinner, but I think we'll just head upstairs and wait on Scott now." Avery said as she nodded for Stiles to follow along.

Derek sat motionless staring down to his empty plate as he tried to process the information that his entire family was dead and for some reason, everyone kept lying to him.

"Come on, Miguel." Avery said softly as she gently touched his arm, but he quickly stood up and shook her touch away.

Once they were in Scott's room, Avery shut the door after making sure Raf hadn't followed them, as she turned around she saw Derek had pinned Stiles to the wall with a clawed hand on the back of his head.

"You lied to me!" Derek hissed.

"I didn't lie, just omitted certain truths, vital truths now that I'm thinking about it." Stiles said, his voice choppy from fear.

"Get off of him." Avery demanded.

Letting go of him Derek stepped back and looked between them, "I don't want to talk to you. I wanna talk to the alpha, I'll talk to Scott."

"Fine, I'll call Scott. The phone is downstairs… I'm just gonna go get the phone and call him." Stiles said, but didn't move when Avery shot him a look.

"Derek listen…" Avery pleaded, but he cut her off.

"You told me to trust you, I felt like I could trust you but you were lying to me." He accused, then angrily said, "You're apparently nothing like, Aleine."

Avery's jaw tensed at the mention of her mother's name and her arms wrapped around herself as she thought about her mother.

"Hey now." Stiles disapprovingly said, as he shook his head back and forth as he walked up and gently rested his hands on her upper arms trying to comfort her.

"Okay, you know what… I'm done playing nice here. You want the truth? Fine here is the truth, Derek." She angrily said as she raised her arm and showed him her wrist.

"A tattoo?" He questioned.

Walking closer she held her wrist out, "No I'm talking about the scar underneath it."

His eyes focused on it then he looked at her, "You tried to kill yourself…"

"No, someone did this to me. Along with breaking my fingers and beating me until my face was black and blue, I was tortured. Because if I talked and gave her what she wanted, she was going to kill someone that I care deeply about. And that person is you."

He opened his mouth to tell her that didn't make any sense, that he didn't even know her but she cut him off, "Did that sound like the end of my story?"

"Oh boy…" She heard Stiles breathe out from behind her.

"Something happened to you and you don't remember any of this but look into my eyes, listen to my heartbeat because this is the truth. I let myself get tortured and nearly killed to keep you alive, and I'd do it all over again. You can be pissed all that you want, but we didn't tell you the truth because it would have just caused you unnecessary pain. Once we get your memories back, all of that will make sense, but until then…" Pausing she moved her hand motioning between herself and Stiles, "We're the ones you want you on your side. So you just need to sit down and shut up while we try to find out what's going on with Scott."

Her sentence ended as she pointed a finger to Scotts bed where Derek slowly sat down, staring at her wide eyed.

"W-what she said." Stiles nodded before leaving the room.

As she turned to follow him, she paused in the door way.

"I'm sorry about your family, Derek. I'm so unbelievably sorry for everything you're going through… but the only way you're going to make sense of anything that's happening is to stay with us so we can fix your memories."

She glanced over her shoulder to look at him at, and noticed he was still staring at her. "I'm sorry…" She whispered as she left the room to find Stiles downstairs.

She met up with Stiles who was pacing the floor in front of the stairs while he talked to Scott on the phone, who said that Peter's theory was Kate had taken Derek back to a very specific point in his life. To a time where he not only knew, her but also still trusted her.

Upon the newly learned information, Avery headed up to the stairs to check on Derek but as she got the door all she saw was someone climbing out of Scott's bedroom window and she immediately knew who it was.

Avery wanted to shout at her to stop, yell for Derek to be careful, possibly even just scream at the top of her lungs to relay some of how she was feeling. But the moment she saw Kate Argent, her entire body went stiff and cold. Her vocal chords paralyzed where she couldn't even make a single sound.

Just as Stiles reached her side in the doorway he saw Kate turning around to look at them, giving them a twisted and smug smile before she lept from the side of the house.

Bringing his phone back to his ear, Stiles told Scott that he was right. Kate had came for Derek and now she'd gotten him.

As he ended the call he looked over to see Avery still in the same position she'd been in the entire time.

"Hey… are you okay?" He quietly asked, as he stepped in front of her to block her view from the window where she just kept staring.

"Did y-you see… did you see her?" Avery stuttered out, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"Kate, yeah… I saw her." Stiles nodded.

"So it's really real? She's back… Kate Argent is alive… not just tormenting me in my own head?" She breathed, her eyes stinging with tears as she looked at her friend.

"Looks that way…" Stiles whispered. His mind flashing back to the night he'd showed up at the Hale house with Jackson and Teagan to help not only defeat Peter but also to rescue Avery from Kate.

But nothing could have prepared them for what they'd seen when they got there. Avery with her face all bruised and swollen, her left wrist had been cut open and her clothes were covered in blood, they didn't know it at the time but she also had broken fingers that Kate had snapped in an attempt to get information out of her.

Everyone who was close to her knew that Avery had never really gotten over that the hunter had done to her, that above the alpha pack and her own mother that Kate Argent was Avery's worst fear –the source of all her nightmares was now flesh and blood and taken Derek yet again.

**~()~**

Stiles pulled his jeep to a stop at the school and looked over as he started to ask Avery if she was okay and ready to possibly see Kate again. But she didn't give him the chance as she got out of the jeep just as Teagan's car sped into the parking lot and both she and Isaac got out.

"Hey!" Teagan greeted a concerned look on her face. Stiles had called to tell them to meet at the school, and he'd said that he and Avery had both seen Kate. That she was in fact one hundred percent alive.

"What do you hear?" Avery asked Isaac as she nodded to Teagan letting her know she was alright.

"Fighting…" He admitted glancing towards the school.

"Okay, you guys go that way… I'm going to check the vault." She said as she started to walk away but Teagan stopped her. "Someone should go with you."

She looked between Teagan and Isaac knowing that wherever one went, the other would follow and if what Isaac was hearing was true, then Scott and Malia could be in trouble.

"I'll be fine." She assured them, "Just help Scott."

"I'll come with you." Stiles offered pulling a bat from his jeep.

She paused as she looked at him, trying so hard to just see him as Stiles –her friend, one of the few people she trusted, but no matter how hard she tried she could still remember the nogitsune wearing his face as he fed from her pain.

"N-no, it's okay. You need to wait here… Lydia and Kira will be here any minute." She quickly thought of an excuse as she started to walk away again.

"A!" Teagan yelled starting to jog after her.

"T, I'm fine. Seriously… go help Scott and Malia, they could be in trouble." She started to argue but Isaac cut in as he nodded and exclaimed, "Yeah, they are in trouble…"

Teagan's face fell as she looked at Avery, not wanting to split from her with Kate on the loose but also knowing that her other friends needed her help.

"I'll be fine." Avery assured her then called over her shoulder, "Plus, if Scott is already here than Peter should be here too, probably at the vault."

Throwing her hands up in the air, Teagan called after her, "Peter? That's supposed to make me feel better?"

"Teagan… we need to go, they're getting their asses kicked." Isaac reluctantly called after his girlfriend, nodding for her to come back when she turned to face him.

**~()~**

Avery's heart beat painfully hard against her rib cage as she neared the school sign and saw it was rotated away from its usual position, revealing an old cement stairwell entryway to the vault.

As she descended the stairs she could hear Peter talking, "Quite the elaborate scheme you have here, Kate. Two countries, Aztec temples, Derek returned to a teenager. One that trusted you, one that loved you. All this complication just to gain access to our vault… just to get your hands on that little piece of junk. Turn it over. Go ahead. There's a scrape on the back where it used to say 'made in China'."

"You're lying." Kate accused, hoping for her sake that it was a lie. The triskelion that Derek had told her about seemed like her only hope at controlling her shifting. But the metal medallion in her hand, certainly didn't feel like some powerful object the way Derek had described.

"Actually, he's telling the truth." Avery said, her voice surprisingly steady considering her entire body was trembling as she looked at Kate.

Looking over to where Avery now stood in the vault with them, Peter turned his attention back to Derek as he questioned, "Do you tell everyone about our vault?"

The teenager gave a small shrug as his state of confusion continued to grow by the second.

"Avery." Kate greeted with a smirk. Even if the blonde teenager seemed to be holding it together, she could smell her fear.

"That piece of metal in your hand is useless… it won't help you." Avery continued, as she arched a brow, "It's not some ancient object with mystical abilities to help someone controlling their shifting, no such object exists… it's all up here." Kate watched as Avery pointed to her head, showing it was all a mental thing.

Her jaw tensed in anger as she stared at Avery, not liking and not believing a word that came out of her mouth before she shook her head and said, "Nice try."

Peter smirked, "I admit I have a tendency to exaggerate things. But in this case the truth is so much more fun. Oh, I'm sorry, sweetheart, but Avery's right –that little pendant is just a physical object to focus on. It's training wheels. Talia used it to teach Laura. I tried to use it to teach Derek."

The end of his sentence was cut off by a loud roar in the distance, to which Derek immediately responded and started to leave but the hunter grabbed him and loudly asked, "Is this real? Tell me if this is real."

"Didn't you hear that, that was Scott. I just heard Scott." Derek argued, trying to pull away but she shouted, "Tell me!"

Finally pulling away from her grip he exclaimed, "I don't know and I don't care." Without another word or another glance back, Derek bolted from the vault to go to Scott's aid.

Avery wanted to run after him, in fact she knew she should go after him that her friends needed her. But the longer she stared at Kate, it was like every cell in her body was freezing and unable to move.

She remembered everything as she stared at the hunter. Everything from when she'd first met her and Kate had befriended her only to use her against Derek, all of the lies she'd been told and the day the hunter had threatened Teagan's life if Avery didn't go with her. And she so went, willingly walked into a situation that changed her life forever.

Even though she'd learned at a very young age how cruel the world could be, she'd never known evil actually existed until Kate Argent had tortured and tried to kill her. That night changed everything and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop the nightmares or the feeling of fear that left her stomach in a constant knot.

That feeling of complete helplessness was the reason she'd started to learn self-defense, then went onto training with Allison. To know that she could handle herself if a situation like that came up again; yet here she was –face to face with her worst nightmare and that same terrified feeling was back.

Kate looked between Peter and Avery, then down to the triskelion pendant in her hand as she rubbed her thumb over the raised design.

"Derek gave up on it back when he learned another way to control the shift. When I taught him. I taught him to use emotion. To use anger and to focus on it. To feel every ounce of rage and hatred that he could summon. It was the anger that taught him control. So you want to learn to control it?" Peter explained, he glanced over to the blonde teen when he could her heart racing so fast it sounded like it was about to explode out of her chest.

When it became increasingly clear that Avery was unable to move on her own from fear, Peter stepped sideways and pushed her back away from them, then stood partially in front of her as he looked back to Kate

"You want to get angry, Kate. Let's get angry!" Peter shouted as he threw his arms out to the side extending his claws, his eyes glowed blue and fangs slid out as he faced down the hunter who was responsible for the fire at his family's house.

His roar echoed through the space and seemed to almost shake the entire foundation of the room, and it snapped Avery back to her senses.

With a gasp she blinked rapidly her eyes trying to focus after starring unwaveringly for so long without blinking.

She fearfully took a step back when she saw Kate mimic Peter, as she let out a growl of her own and her eyes started to glow green.

Realizing she needed to get out of there she turned and started for the exit but stopped as she saw a dark figure at the top, she couldn't make out a face or any features and it took her mind her a moment to comprehend what was happening as the person threw three small, metal devices down the stairs.

With each clink against the cement steps Avery watched them until one landed with a clink at her feet. Her confused state faded and with a gasp she screamed, "Peter, watch out!" As she leapt to the side landing on the floor with her arms and legs tucked around herself trying to protect against the blast as the flash grenades started to explode.

Once the noise stopped Avery slowly moved her arms from her face and watched as Kate moved right past her heading for the stairs, coughing violently as she stumbled along.

She could also hear Peter coughing from somewhere in the vault, but she couldn't see through the thick dark smoke to locate the werewolf. As she tried to take a breath she could smell wolfsbane and knew the flash grenades had been laced with it.

The smoke was so thick in the room that she could barely even see someone walk past her farther into the vault. Avery pulled her jacket over her nose and mouth, as she remained on the floor trying to not breathe in more than she had to.

Avery was soon aware of the fact that someone was walking past her again, at first she thought it might be Peter trying to get away from the wolfsbane like Kate had, but then she heard his voice from the other side of the vault as he yelled, "Wait… wait!"

Raising her head she saw the person going past her had a suitcase in their hand, and a chill ran up her spine like she knew who the person was but she couldn't see anything above their knees from how dense the smoke was not to mention the small flashes were still erupting from the grenades, making it hard for her to see much of anything.

After a few moments the smoke started to thin out and she could see Peter struggling to get to his feet, before he finally gave up and just started to crawl across the vault floor towards a large metal safe with the door wide open.

"Peter!" Avery called out as she got to her own feet and stumbled over towards where he was on his knees staring into the vault.

He kept mumbling to himself, something that she couldn't quite understand.

"Hey." She said, hitting his shoulder a few times, "We need to get out of here."

But when he didn't acknowledge her and just kept speaking under his breath she shook her head and mumbled, "Screw it." As she turned and ran up the stairs. Leaning over she rested her hands on her knees and took in a few deep breaths of the cool night air, before sprinting off in the direction all of her friends had gone.

**~()~**

After Avery rushed off to the vault alone, Teagan ran back over toward her car and popped the trunk. She lifted up the top part, revealing the section where the spare tire was, but not only was there a spare tire in that area but also a bag of weapons.

She brought out the bag, sitting it inside the trunk, then reached inside to pull out a couple of daggers that she stuck inside her coat pockets. She reached inside again, grabbed a small crossbow and a few arrows.

She glanced over at Isaac, as she slammed the trunk shut, giving him a nod and letting him know she was ready. The two began walking toward the school together, as Isaac glanced around, trying to pick up a scent or follow the sounds to figure out exactly where Scott and Malia were.

He came to a stop, as he sniffed the air again. He wrinkled his nose when a foul smell hit him. It was a smell he had smelled before, while they were in Mexico recently. The time they were broken down on the side of the road. Like Malia, he knew something was out there watching them, he caught a scent of it then, but couldn't tell where it was coming from and now he could smell it again.

"Did you catch a scent?" Teagan asked, as she came to a stop beside him.

He nodded his head, as he said,"It's a scent I picked up in Mexico too."

"Wait, what? What does that mean? Did something follow us back?" Teagan asked with wide eyes, worried they brought something dangerous back to their town.

"Or maybe they came with Kate." Isaac suggested.

"God, I still can't believe she is alive." Teagan softly said, as she shook her head. She found it hard to to believe that the former hunter was alive. The woman who almost killed her best friend was still alive and that thought worried her. None of them knew what she did to Derek or what her plan was and that made her very uneasy.

Hearing her heart race, Isaac glanced over at his girlfriend with a concern look on his face. He could tell she was scared and worried, but also very pissed off at the fact that Kate was alive.

He thought back to Avery's attack, Teagan went with him to work that night to dig Kate's grave, he didn't understand her change in attitude at the time once he mentioned digging the grave, but once he heard about the attack he understood. It killed her almost losing Avery and she wanted to be involved with digging the grave, be involved with Kate's final resting place. In a way, It was kind of like closure to her, but now finding out that Kate was never buried, cause she had never died, was like a slap in the face.

In Teagan's opinion, she didn't deserve a second chance in live, not after the things she had done. She couldn't help but think how sad it was that a villain like Kate got another chance, but a hero like Allison didn't.

"Hey..." He softly said, getting her attention. He laid a hand on the small of her back for comfort, as he continued,"This isn't like last time with Kate. Things are different this time."

"Yeah..." Teagan said with a nod, agreeing with him. "Before she had guns and knifes, this time she has claws and fangs." She continued.

"So do I." Isaac pointed out. He laid his other hand on the side of her face, turning her to face him, as he added,"And I'm not going to let what happened last time, happen again."

"Neither am I." Teagan stated, as she held up the crossbow in her hand. She knew Kate was stronger than her, but she had been trained by the best and felt like she could handle her. She was not going to let Kate hurt Avery again.

As Teagan went to take a step, Isaac reached out to grab her arm and stop her, telling her to wait a minute.

"For what?" She questioned. "I just sent my best friend off alone, while the psycho bitch who tried to kill her is in the area cause you said Scott needs our help. You said they are getting their asses kicked. So why are we waiting?"

"Cause I want to make sure you have your head in the right place." Isaac pointed out. "We have no idea what we are about to walk into and I can't have you running in there with revenge on your mind, clouding your judgement." He laid a hand on the side of her face, catching her eye, as he added,"No matter what happens, I need you to come back to me, Teagan. It's you and me, remember?"

"It's you and me." Teagan said back, as she blew out a breath, realizing he was right.

She took a step toward him, resting her forehead against his, gaining strength from him. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, they heard someone calling out their names.

They turned their heads and saw Kira running over toward them. "Where is Scott and Malia?" She questioned, as she stopped in front of the couple.

Isaac sniffed the air again, realizing the fight had moved to another area. He pointed toward where the scent was the strongest, as he said,"Over there."

Kira nodded her head before she began to run in the area Isaac pointed too, ignoring Teagan as she yelled out for her to wait. She looked over at Isaac, as he lightly grabbed her arm, nodding his head toward where Kira ran off, as he said,"Come on."

The couple ran after Kira, seeing her jump in between two huge creatures with an animal skull for a head. Teagan skid to a stop, her eyes wide when she saw them. Her eyes flickered over to Isaac, both wondering what they were. They weren't with Scott and Malia earlier when Peter told them they were berserkers. The monsters were something they had never seen before.

As one of the berserkers knocked Kira's sword out of her hand, then slapped her aside, causing her to fall on the ground beside Scott and Kira, Isaac growled as he rushed over toward them.

He swiped his hand, trying to scratch one across the stomach, but it did nothing. He quickly ducked as one tried to hit him back and saw Teagan out of the corner of his eye loading one of the arrows in the crossbow. He grabbed one of their arms, trying to pin it behind his back to give her a clear shot. She pulled the trigger, then quietly cussed when the berserker swiped with his other arm and knocked the arrow down.

She tried to load another arrow, planning to shoot him again, until the berserker grabbed Isaac's shirt and lifted him in the air above his head. Teagan tossed the crossbow aside, then reached into her coat pocket, bringing out the daggers, holding one in both hands, as she rushed toward the berserker holding Isaac.

Before she could reach them, Isaac yelled out to her, telling her to watch out, as the other one came up behind her. She quickly spun around, and tried to slice him with one dagger as she stabbed him in the arm with the other one.

Her eyes widen when he pulled the dagger out, then grabbed onto the sides of her coat before lifted her up, her feet dangling. Isaac shifted back and forth, trying to force the berserker holding him to lose his grip on him so he could get to Teagan.

He saw Teagan kicking her legs, trying to force the berserker to let her go, but no matter what she did, he held on to her, holding her up. Isaac latched his claws into the berserker holding him, then felt him loosen his grip enough for him to shift around again before feeling himself fall to the ground with a hard thud.

"Isaac!" Teagan called out, after hearing him fall and worried he was hurt.

He quickly jumped up, grabbed Kira's sword from the ground, as he rushed over to the berserker holding Teagan, but before he could do anything, the berserker tossed Teagan toward him, causing him to drop the sword and catch her as they both fell to the ground together beside the others. Thankfully he was able to mainly break her fall, but as she slide off of him and fell to the ground, she felt her elbow hit the concrete, causing her to hiss out in pain.

Isaac sat up, holding her toward him, as he glanced over at the others before asking,"What the hell are those things?"

"Berserkers." Malia answered in a pained voice, as she pressed her hand against the wound on her leg from when she was fighting one. She could feel it healing, but the deep cut still hurt like hell.

"How do we stop them?" Teagan questioned, as she held on to her elbow.

"I don't know." Scott answered fearfully, as they all turned to see the two berserkers walking toward them.

They had all tried to defeat them, but were all tossed aside like a rag doll. They had no idea how to beat them, no idea how to get away from them alive. Isaac saw the others scooting back as the berserkers got closer. He tightened his hold on his girlfriend, as he scooted back, pulling her with him.

They didn't know what they were going to do until they saw someone running toward them and began to fight the two berserkers. The five sat there in shock, none of them knowing at the moment it was Derek fighting for them. That it was Derek who was saving their lives.

**~()~**

Avery made it to her friends just as the berserkers turned and ran off in the other direction.

"Derek?" Scott asked, as he pulled his sore and bruised body to his feet.

Avery looked around and noticed all of her friends were there, except for Lydia and Stiles who she assumed were probably still by the cars.

As Derek stood up from the crouch he'd been in he slowly turned and faced them. Avery breathed a sigh of relief at seeing he was back to his normal self, but soon the relief was overcame with shock as his eyes glowed yellow, instead of their normal blue.

"A!" Teagan exclaimed, seeing her best friend. She looked over to make sure Isaac was okay before she jumped to her feet to check on Avery.

"Are you okay?' Teagan asked, looking her over as she saw Avery was covered in dirt and dust from the floor of the vault.

Avery nodded, but continued to stare at Derek. Slowly, Teagan turned and saw the beta's eyes –finally understanding what her friend was looking so surprised about.

Barely saying a word to any of them, Derek walked off to the side needing some time alone after everything that had just happened and the friends that were there exchanged looks none of them knew what to say or even how to feel in that moment.

Feeling a need to break the silence and hoping to make her friends feel better, Kira said, "Well, at least he's back to normal… kind of."

When everyone turned their eyes on her, her dark eyes widened and she gave a small shrug like she wasn't even sure why she said that in the first place.

As everyone started to go their separate ways Isaac stopped Avery and Teagan as they neared their cars.

"What is it?" Teagan asked concerned as she looked at her boyfriend.

He glanced down to the ground for a moment, trying to focus his hearing then raised his head as he explained, "I hear Stiles and Lydia… but they sound muffled, like they're-"

"Underground?" Avery spoke up.

He nodded and Teagan guessed, "The vault?"

Nodding Avery headed back towards it explaining to her friends on the way about how Kate was there but then someone threw flash bombs in the vault that contained wolfsbane vapor smoke.

"Why did the Hales' build a vault under the school?" Isaac asked, surprise apparent on his face as they neared the school sign with the open entrance.

Teagan glanced over at him and reasoned, "The vault was probably here first."

"Yeah… the school was built a long time after the vault." Avery confirmed as they headed down the stairs to find Stiles and Lydia standing behind Peter who was still in the same spot on the floor, knelt in front of the open safe just like when Avery had left.

Hearing footsteps Lydia and Stiles looked over to their friends and shrugged, indicating they had no idea what was wrong with Peter.

"It was never about the triskelion… it was all a set up." Peter continued to mumble under his breath in a state of shock.

When no one else said anything Avery stepped closer and asked, "What was a set up."

Not even glancing over at her he said, "T-they… they took it while I was blinded."

"Took what?" Teagan asked shrugging and thinking they didn't have time to deal with Peter being cryptic.

Finally he stood up and slowly turned to the face the group as he admitted, "Bonds… bearer bonds and they took them all."

"Bearer bonds?" Isaac asked confused.

Glancing over at him Teagan pointed out, "He's saying he got robbed."

"This was a heist… somebody planned this." Peter loudly exclaimed.

"Aren't bonds through a bank though?" Stiles questioned then pointed out, "Can't you just call the bank."

"I didn't say bank bonds." Peter pointed out, every syllable of his sentence laced with irritation.

"Bearer bonds are different." Avery said, then took a deep breath as she continued to explain, "With a bearer bond, whoever holds the actual bond, like psychically holds the paper owns the money."

Peter nodded at he looked at Avery.

"How much was stolen?" Lydia asked, seeing the expression on Peter's face.

"117." Peter said, his voice almost in growl.

"Thousand?" Stiles asked with wide eyes.

As he turned back around to stare into the empty safe he sighed in devastation and rage as he admitted to the teens, "Million."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Thank you for reading and we hoped you all liked the chapter. ^_^**

**Don't forget to check out Miss E Charlotte's profile and mine as well for links to story related content, including videos that were made to go along with the Blue Moon Series.**

**Thank you so much to SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, guest and Black Widow for reviewing chapter 8, we appreciate the support so much!**


	10. This Time Around

**Chapter Ten – This Time Around**

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><p>After telling Stiles goodnight and thanking him for the ride back to her house, Avery started up the driveway pausing when she saw a new black Cadillac Escalade in the driveway. Her eyebrows knotted in confusion wondering who would be at their house this time of night.<p>

Unlocking the door she walked into the large house and barely got the door shut behind her and turned around when her dad emerged from his office and rushed towards her, wrapping her in a warm, fatherly embrace.

Patting his back she said, "It's okay…"

"Are you okay?" He questioned taking a step back and looking her over.

Her mind flashed over the events of the last few days; being electrocuted by the hunters, forced to watch Scott being tortured, her fighting with Teagan, finding out Kate Argent is alive, and to all of the fear and confusion from Derek being aged backwards.

While learning to cope with life's situations; the good and the bad. She'd been told countless times to not hold it in, that she needed a support system or at the very least to keep a journal to let out some of what she was feeling inside.

And as much as she wanted to take that advice to heart, she knew she couldn't begin to explain how she was feeling to her dad. So she took a deep breath, plastered a smile on her face and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Did you get Derek?" He questioned.

"Yeah… it wasn't the hunters who had him… but we managed to bring him home." She vaguely answered.

"Avery, with what I was saying before… it wasn't that I didn't want Derek rescued, it was that I didn't want you to be doing the rescuing. Not so soon after getting back from Long Beach." He quietly said, trying to get her to understand where he was coming from.

"I know." She nodded, "I get it… a part of me never wanted to leave Long Beach, I just wanted to hide away and not deal with anything. But I have a life here, friends who need and depend on me… but you can't keep looking at me like I'm so fragile that the smallest upset is going to make me snap."

"I know you're strong, but this world of werewolves and supernatural has almost killed you more times than I can count." He argued.

She looked down to the expensive flooring, then back up to him as she shrugged and said, "It's my world too, dad. And that… breakdown I had months ago wasn't a result of things that happened over night. It was build up from one traumatic thing after another and I couldn't deal with it. Losing Allison on top of all that… I broke, I completely lost it but I'm better now."

He swallowed hard, realizing how close he'd came to losing her several times. And ever since Allison died, all he could think was how that could have easily been Avery.

Before he could say anything else and make her think about things she didn't want too, Avery cleared her throat and nodded behind her towards the door, "Who's car is outside?"

With a sigh he reached into his pocket and pulled out the keys as he said, "To be completely honest, I was going to just buy you a new Mustang."

Her jaw dropped, "But… I hate the new models!"

Nodding he dropped the keys into her open hand as he admitted, "I know."

Closing her slightly trembling fingers around the metal keys she quietly said, "Thanks for the new car… but I'd rather have had mine back."

He gave her a hard stare before letting out a breath and explaining, "I felt guilty… when you came to me for help with the money, I should have done something. Avery, I know how much you love that car, I remember having to drive you up to your uncles every weekend for the year he spent restoring it for you. I tried to get your car back. I tracked down the collector that you sold it too but he wouldn't sell it back… for any price."

"It's okay… I guess that's what I get, right?" She mumbled under her breath.

"If you don't like the Escalade, we can find you something else…" He started to say, but she shook her head and silenced him.

Her eyes burned but a smile fell over her lips as she said, "Thanks dad." And stepped forward, giving him a hug before heading up to her room.

Over an hour later Avery sighed heavily as she stared down to the blank page of the journal she'd bought on her shopping trip with Teagan after she'd came back home.

"This is stupid…" She breathed out as she dropped the pen in the crease of the blank book and leaned back in her computer chair, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs.

She thought she was managing with everything okay, until she'd gotten into the shower when she got home and almost had a panic attack when she replayed coming face-to-face with Kate in the Hale vault.

Now there was a part of her that felt unstable again, like some broken piece of that faceless image that haunted her was trying to claw its way back out; begging her to just try and shut herself back down, to wrap back up in the numbness that had been her comfort zone for so long but there another part of her fighting against it.

The war happening inside of her head was enough to make her scream.

She'd tried to write down what she was feeling, to vent on page so that she didn't worry her friends but she just couldn't do it.

Another thing weighing heavily on her mind was not knowing or understanding what Kate had done to Derek to age him backwards or why his eyes were now golden yellow instead of blue.

Standing up she paced back and forth in the moonlight bleeding in through her open curtains trying to talk herself down, but nothing seemed to be helping. She felt like every little sound she heard could be Kate and the fear was suffocating.

Avery crossed her room and picked up her phone and wondered if she should call one of her friends, but everyone was already worried enough about her. And she knew Teagan had just had one of the longest days of her life and was probably trying to sleep.

Before she could even really collect her thoughts she'd picked her keys up off the desk and headed downstairs towards the door.

**~()~**

After leaving the school and arriving at the Young house, Teagan walked inside as Isaac followed along behind her. Paul; who was sitting in the living room, glanced up seeing the two walk in, both looking wore out and injured.

"What in the world happened to you two?" Paul questioned, as he stood up from the couch and followed the two teens into the kitchen.

"Berserkers happened." Isaac answered, as Teagan kneeled down to pet Aspen; who ran over to them.

"What is a berserker?" Paul asked with a confused expression on his face. The more he heard about their world, the more confused he was.

"I'm not even sure if I understand what they are." Teagan said with a sigh, as she ran a hand through her hair. Before leaving the school, Derek told them what he knew about berserkers until they were interrupted by Peter, who was still talking about it was all a trick and he just wanted his money back.

Peter believed that Kate tricked Derek, pretending she wanted the Triskelion, when really she wanted to rob the Hale vault. Teagan really didn't care if Peter was robbed, she was more worried about what Kate's end game was. What she was up to and making sure she didn't go after Avery again.

"They're evil bastards are what they are." Isaac pointed out, as he rubbed his sore shoulder. When he forced the berserker to drop him, he landed hard on his shoulder and had to push it back in its socket earlier. It was healing, but at the moment still sore as hell.

Once he realized what he said, he looked over at Paul, his eyes widen, as he quickly apologized for the bad language he used, but Paul held up his hand, telling him it was okay.

"Just tell me that you are going to be careful." Paul said, as he looked at his daughter. He knew the world she was involved in was dangerous. He already lost his wife and didn't want to lose his daughter too, but he also knew she wasn't walking away from it and he couldn't help but feel proud by that fact.

In the beginning he wanted her out of it, he tried to force her out, but that backfired on him and for good reason. He and his wife always taught her to stand up for what she believed in, to never turn your back on loved ones and that is what she did. She stuck by her friends and the boy she loves. Now he just had to hope she was safe, but he knew how strong she was and knew she was trained well.

As Teagan nodded her head at her father's comment, Isaac stared at her as he spoke up,"I won't let anything happen to her."

"I know you won't." Paul said with a grateful smile, as he looked over at him. He wasn't blind, he could see how much the young werewolf loved his daughter and knew he would do whatever to protect her.

"You two act like I'm some little weakling who can't handle herself." Teagan stated, as she folded her arms across her chest and looked at her father and boyfriend. She rested one of her hands on her hurt elbow, trying not to make a face when she hit the tender skin. She didn't want to worry her father and let him know she was hurt.

"Oh I know you can handle yourself." Isaac said back, as he walked over to the refrigerator, pulling out two bottles of water. He took a sip from one of the bottles, then walked back over to the others. He sat the bottle on the counter then slide it over to Teagan; who was standing across from him at the island in the middle of the kitchen.

He looked over at Paul with a proud smile on his face, as he added,"Your daughter is badas- I mean, she's good, really good."

"I was trained by the best." Teagan pointed out, with a sad smile on her face, as she thought about Allison.

Paul smiled at their words, then kissed Teagan on the side of her head, as he said,"Well keep being the best and keep coming home." He hugged his daughter close, as he softly added,"I can't lose you, Sweet Tea."

"You won't, Dad." Teagan promised him, as she hugged him back.

Paul nodded his head at her words, then told them he was going to bed; now that he knew both were home and safe, he would be able to sleep better. He gave Isaac's shoulder a friendly pat, telling him he was welcome to stay the night.

"Thank you." Isaac said sincerely.

It always made him happy when Paul invited him to stay, it was a big step from before when Paul wanted Teagan away from him; but the two were on better terms now and Isaac was welcomed in the house anytime.

He could even stay the night, as long as he slept in the guest room. The only time before he was allowed in her bed was when she was having the horrible nightmares and hallucinations, but since the door was shut in her mind, she never had any like that again, just regular nightmares from time to time.

Paul nodded his head, as if to say 'you're welcome', then told them night as he walked out of the room. Teagan and Isaac stood still, their eyes on each other, until Isaac nodded his head, letting her know Paul was in his room and had shut the door; only then did Teagan let out a pained noise as she removed her coat and grabbed on to her elbow.

Isaac walked over to her, picking up the bottle of water he slid over to her earlier, and placed it against her elbow. "Here, hold on to that until I get you some ice."

He walked back over to the refrigerator, opening up a drawer beside it to pull out a zip lock bag, then opened the freezer door to grab a handful of ice and tossed it into the bag. He zipped the bag up, then walked back over to her, removing the bottle of water, and holding the bag against her bruised elbow.

"Are you sure I shouldn't take you to the hospital?" Isaac asked. It was a questioned he asked her all the way home, but she told him to keep driving, she would be okay.

"It's not broken or anything. I didn't hit it that hard, it just hurts like hell." Teagan said, as she shook her head. One of the many things Allison taught her and Avery was how to tell how badly injured you were; how to tell the difference between a break, a sprain and so on. She could tell her elbow was just badly bruised, but would be okay in a day or so.

Isaac nodded his head as he kept the bag of ice against her skin, but he could tell by the look on her face that she was still in a lot of pain and the ice was doing nothing to help her. He knew something that would help her though.

He removed the bag, tossing it on to the counter, then laid his hand on the bruised area, drawing out the pain.

"Isaac, what are you-" She began to say, as she tried to pull her arm away, not wanting him to take her pain away. She didn't want him to feel the awful pain she was in.

"Shh, it's okay." Isaac interrupted, as he laid his other hand on the side of her face. The more pain he took away, the more he could see the look on her face change. Her face was now relaxed and not scrunched up in pain like before.

When she saw him panting, trying to breath through the pain, she shook her head and laid her hand on top of his hand, trying to remove the hand from her elbow.

"Isaac?" She breathed out. "You have to stop. You shouldn't do this. You're-You're taking too much."

Isaac shook his head, as he closed his eyes, and leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. With his other hand, he caressed the side of her face, as he softly said,"Your pain is my pain."

"Isaac..." She quietly said, as she pulled back to look at him. Her elbow was just a dull ache now, but she could tell he was in even more pain then before after taking the pain from her. She said his name again, getting his attention, before saying,"You have to let go."

"I don't want you to be in pain." He breathed out.

"And I don't want you in pain either." Teagan stated, as she laid her hand on the side of his face. "Especially my pain. You need to let go."

Isaac blew out a pained breath, as he released her arm and fell against the counter. Teagan rushed over to him, laying a hand on his back, trying to give him comfort.

"I'm okay." He said, as he tried to catch him breath. He could feel all of her pain rushing through his body, but he could also feel himself healing from it. He knew in a few minutes the pain would be gone.

"I appreciate you doing that, Isaac, but you shouldn't have." Teagan said, as she ran her hand up and down his back. "You should never take my pain. You have enough on your own. Don't take on more."

Isaac raised his head to look at her, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. He gave her a smile, as he whispered out,"It's you and me."

"It's you and me." She whispered back, before leaning forward to softly kiss his lips. She pulled back to look at him, as she said,"But you still shouldn't do that. Besides if I am in pain, I can just do what any human would do. I can soak my body in the bathtub."

"I do love your tub." Isaac said back, as he pressed his lips against her. "We can still go soak in it now, right?" He questioned with a smile, his lips inches from hers.

"My dad is home." Teagan whispered, as she pointed to the ceiling. Knowing he would want to do more than just soak in the tub.

Isaac listened in for a moment, then added,"He's asleep."

Teagan bit her bottom lip in thought, before shaking her head and saying,"We probably shouldn't."

"I think we should." Isaac argued, as he stood up straight. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her toward him, as he tried to talk her into it,"We can dim the lights, turn on the jets and there are even lights in it, remember?"

"I remember." Teagan said with a laugh, as she remembered telling him that months ago. The night he was attacked by the Oni and was freezing, she suggested a warm soak in the tub. Between that and the fun they had in the tub, he was able to get warm again.

"There will also be a naked me and a naked you." Isaac added. He shot her a grin, as he said,"How can you turn down a naked me and a naked you?"

Teagan bit her bottom lip again, as she leaned against the counter in thought. She blew out a breath, as she pointed a finger toward him, before saying,"Okay, but you have to be quiet. We can not wake up my dad."

Isaac continued to smile at her, as he grabbed her uninjured arm, pulling her toward him. He placed his hands on her butt, lifting her up. As she wrapped her legs around his waist, he leaned forward to press his lips against hers for a heated kiss.

He pulled back to grin against her lips, as he whispered out,"Oh I can be quiet. Question is, can you be quiet?"

"I can be quiet." Teagan whispered back.

Isaac raised his eyebrows, as he said,"Really?" He knew how loud she could get at times.

As she nodded her head to answer, he leaned forward to press his lips against the side of her neck, deciding to test her. When he began to nibble on her skin, he heard her heart speed up and could tell she was trying not to moan out.

He grinned against her skin, then slipped a hand under her shirt, lightly running his nails across her back, knowing that always turned her on. He quickly pulled back and placed his hand over her mouth, when she finally let out a loud moan.

"Shh!" He hissed with a chuckle. "You're not suppose to be loud, remember?"

"Then don't do things like that." Teagan said back with a laugh, as she playfully slapped his shoulder.

"Let's see what else I can do to make you not scream." Isaac said with a grin, as he began to walk toward the stairs, heading for her bedroom, with her still wrapped around him.

After everything that had happened recently they needed a little fun in their life. They needed to do the type of things they did while they were away in Long Beach, they needed to connect again, to be a couple again, and that is exactly what they planned to do.

**~()~**

Several minutes later, Avery was parked outside of Derek's building with little recollection as to how she even got there.

With a sigh she leaned forward and rested her head against the steering wheel and wondered if she'd ended up there because she needed to see him for her own peace of mind or if it was because she was worried about him. A part of her knew she should turn around and head back home or maybe even to Lydia's since she knew Teagan and Isaac were probably still trying to deal with the fact that Teagan could have been pregnant.

But she felt like she couldn't rest until she saw Derek again; just long enough to make sure he was okay since he'd taken off so quickly after telling them what he knew about berserkers. Just a few minutes to check on him was all she needed, just to see him long enough to catch her breath and stop her head from spinning.

Getting out of the car she pulled her purse strap onto her shoulder and slowly made her way into the building and up the several flights of stairs. Normally she'd take the elevator but as much as she wanted to see him, there was an equal part of her that was scared.

She now knew he hadn't been waiting on her when she got home and hadn't called her because he wasn't able too but now that raised a frightening question; if he hadn't been taken by Kate and locked in an Aztec temple, would he have been there?

Her footsteps slowed down to an almost nonexistent pace as she reached his floor and started towards his door.

It was now or never; she told herself as she started to raise her fist to knock on the door but before she could the door flew open she stared wide eyed to Derek who was holding his cellphone between his teeth as he was in the process of pulling his jacket on.

His eyes moved up until they locked with hers and she stared at him with an unsure expression like she might just turn around and take off running at any second if he said the wrong thing.

"Hey…" She shakily breathed.

His eyes traveled over her and he noticed she was dressed in a pair of black and gray plaid pajama pants and a plain black tank top, his forehead lined with confusion knowing she was the last person who'd wear her sleeping clothes out in public –for any reason.

Taking his phone out of his mouth he held it up and said, "I found my phone and charged the battery… I just got your messages."

"Oh god…" She breathed, closing her eyes and letting out sigh as she hung her head and said, "All seven hundred of them?"

With a small smile he tried to joke, "I think there might have only been five hundred… definitely not more than six."

Raising her head she slowly cracked a smile but her body still felt jittery from nerves as she apologized, "I'm sorry… I know I had no right to be calling you like that."

He frowned as he replayed her messages in his head. The first messages she'd left were from the treatment facility and he could hear the hope in her voice as she assured him that she was getting better and would really like to see him. Then once she got back to Beacon Hills, her voice had a sadness to it as she still tried to contact him. Finally, the last stage the messages went through was anger; both at him for ignoring her and at herself for believing things would be different.

"If I'd had a way to get the messages and get to you… I would have." He assured her, their eyes locking briefly before she looked down to the floor and said, "I should probably get going, you look like you're going somewhere."

She started to turn away, pausing slightly hoping that he'd tell her he was glad she was there but instead he said, "I was heading out."

Her expression fell farther until he continued, "I just got your messages… so I was coming to see you."

As she looked back at him, he said, "I'm glad you're here."

He motioned for her to come inside and when she did he slid the heavy metal door shut behind them as he silently watched her walking farther into his loft, until she stopped near the large window and looked out into the darkness of the night.

She could see his reflection behind her in the window and she said, "I wasn't sure you'd want to see me… after everything that happened."

Keeping his eyes on her, he explained, "I don't remember a lot before you guys got me out of the tomb in Mexico…" His voice trailed off as he remembered Scott and the mercenary Braeden getting him out of there and then when he gathered the strength to look up when he was being pulled from La Inglesia, the first thing he'd seen was Avery as she rushed towards him and took his face in her hands.

Looking to his reflection she asked, "Do you remember the things that happened after we found you?"

"You mean like you hitting that deputy?"

She held back a smile as he nodded and explained, "Yeah, I remember all of that."

The room was silent as both of them were thinking about the same thing, but neither of them wanted to bring it up. Not able to take the quiet any longer Avery carefully questioned, "What did Kate do to you… what happened to your eyes?"

His gaze moved back to her and he shook his head as he quietly said, "I don't know…"

"How did this even happen?" She breathed, wrapping her arms around herself and shivered, as she slowly turned around and faced him, "Everyone kept telling me she was dead –that she couldn't hurt me anymore… but she's not dead, she's alive and stronger than ever…" Her voice grew hoarse and she shook her head back and forth feeling tears stinging her eyes as she whispered, "How is this even possible?"

He took a step closer as he softly said, "I'm sorry… Avery, I really thought she was dead."

Shaking her head back and forth, she pulled in a shallow breath feeling like the room was growing smaller on her as she stumbled over her words, "I… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have came here… you've got enough going on, I'm just gonna go."

But as she tried to rush past him he stopped her, as he folded his arms around her in a protective embrace, he pointed out, "It's okay. She knows that we know she's alive and she's hiding right now, you're safe."

She placed her hands on his chest and started to try and push him back to tell him that she already couldn't breathe and this wasn't helping but he didn't let her go as he assured her, "I'm here… I told you I'd be here."

Swallowing hard she finally stopped pushing against him and somehow managed to pull in a breath; slowly getting herself back in control as she held onto him. Burying her face in his shirt, she closed her eyes and appreciate the moment. Not only because she felt safe and like she belonged in his arms, but because he was alive and so was she.

From the time she'd found the bullet casing at his loft a part of her knew he might be alive and now finally she had proof that he was alive and okay. Back to his normal age and she didn't care about the color of his eyes –not as long as he was alive and well. Everything else they could figure out later.

As they sat down on the side of his bed she smiled in thanks as he slid his jacket off and helped her put it on as she continued to shiver in the cool room. "Thanks." She breathed as she admitted, "Rushing out of my house in pajamas in the middle of the night wasn't my brightest idea."

"Why did you? You never leave your house in pajamas." He finally asked, causing her to smile as he pointed out another thing he knew about her.

"I don't know exactly… to be honest, I don't remember the drive here either." She explained.

But when she looked at his face, she sighed and hugged his jacket around herself as she continued, "I just mean everything was a blur… not like a crazy thing. I'm not crazy… not anymore at least."

"I never thought you were crazy." He admitted to her, "It's been over a year since you got pulled into all of this and you've just been taking one hit after another… I think it finally just got to be too much, but that doesn't make you crazy."

"It did too make me crazy… completely unstable and then that day I hurt myself again, it was like I just finally snapped." Her mind drifted back to be constantly haunted by the faceless version of herself and she shivered again, "And I thought I was ready to come back… I thought I could handle being home again."

"But now Kate's back?" Derek guessed as he sat beside her on the bed.

"Allison trained me not only to protect myself, but she taught me how to fight… showed me how to approach situations without emotion and to use fear to my advantage to be stronger and alert. Logically I know how to handle this, how to handle Kate… but then the first time I saw her again –I froze. Everything I've learned, all of my training completely flew out the window and I was helpless again."

Taking a deep breath she continued to try and talk through what she was feeling, "I looked at her and all I could think about was the day she had the both of us, before she ever took me to where you were being held."

His eyes traveled down to see what she was staring at; her left hand, remembering the pain she'd been in that night.

"She, uh… she asked me who the alpha was, she knew that I knew but I couldn't tell her. I didn't even understand what was even happening really, even knowing everything she'd done –a part of me still didn't understand what was happening until…"

Her voice trailed off and Derek swallowed hard as he watched her continuing to stare down to her left hand.

"Snap." Avery whispered as she held onto one of the fingers that Kate had broken.

His eyes closed and his heart started to race as he remembered how bad that night was for them both, and how he should have been at the hospital when she first up –but he wasn't. "Avery…" He breathed, feeling sick to his stomach and also outraged at not only Kate for hurting her like that, but at himself for not trying to protect her and not being there for her afterwards.

Nodding she continued to stare at her hand as she cleared her throat, "She asked me again and I still wouldn't tell her…"

Gently holding onto another finger she repeated in a hoarse whisper, "Snap."

He closed his eyes for a few seconds then slowly opened them to see she was looking at him. His mind was blank from hearing her recount the night, desperately he wished he had something to say to her but he didn't even know where to begin.

The only thing she'd really told him about that night was how she'd left with Kate to protect Teagan.

"It hurt so bad… and all I could think was that it couldn't get any worse and then she took me underground and I saw you and suddenly everything was so much worse." Her voice trembled as glanced up to see he was watching her intently with a pained look on his face.

"You'd warned me, told me that someone might try to use us against each other like that, but idiot me I didn't really believe you. You told me so many times that being together was dangerous but I don't think I understood exactly what you meant until that night." She said with a weak almost bitter tasting smile.

He opened his mouth to say something but she continued, "That night changed everything… didn't it?"

Their eyes met and she said, "Until Kate, I didn't believe that evil was real or that hell existed. But then she tied me up… broke my bones, beat me till I was black and blue before she cut my wrist wide open and then…" her voice cracked.

He scooted a little closer to her, just wanting to provide her with some kind of comfort.

"Then I knew –that hell isn't some place you go when you die. I learned that hell was this horrific state of being. And that this person, who I once thought was a friend –was really this depraved embodiment of pure evil and it changed… everything. The sun never quite shined as bright after that day, the nights were colder and darker than I remembered." Her voice was barely over a whisper by the time she finished her sentence.

"But I think the worst part of it was that… that was the night I lost you." Her voice was barely over a whisper as she spoke.

Finally finding his words he shook his head back and forth as he gently pulled her trembling hands into his in an attempt both hold them still and comfort her as he said, "You didn't lose me."

"I did." She argued offering up a defeated smile, "We were still together but things weren't ever the same… you didn't even look at me the same way."

Letting out the breath he hadn't even realized he'd been holding he tried to explain, "Because every time I looked at you all I could see was her hurting you… when I looked it was just another reminder that I wasn't strong enough, that I wasn't powerful enough to protect you."

Her brows knotted with a look falling somewhere between pain and anger as she pointed out, "I didn't need you to protect me… I just needed you."

Their eyes met and he nodded, knowing one of the biggest mistakes he'd ever made was making her feel likes she wasn't important enough to him. She'd never know how much he truly regretted not making her a top priority, because that resulted in him losing her.

Then he'd watched her move on with Stiles but it wasn't until he'd witnessed the blossoming of the feelings and connection that she had with Deputy Parrish that he really started to feel like he'd lost her for good. But now here she was at his loft.

She'd found out Kate Argent, the source of her worst nightmares was alive and it wasn't either of them she ran too; it was him. And he didn't know if it was because he'd been there the night Kate had gotten ahold of her or what her reasoning was behind it but either way he was going to be there for her.

He wrapped his arms around her as he gently pulled her body against his when he saw her using the sleeve of his jacket to wipe a stray tear that had rolled down her cheek.

There were so many things he wasn't sure about, the top of that list now being what Kate had done to him and what the lasting effects would be. But there was something he was entirely certain of and that was that he'd never stopped loving her and never stopped regretting the fact that he'd let her get away. He knew he didn't deserve her, especially not after everything he'd put her through. But she'd still came to him which meant maybe there was a chance he could make things up to her, a chance that he could do things right this time and make sure she knew how important she was to him.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much for reading! ^_^ I hope you guys are all having a great holiday season!**

**We owe an extra special thank you to xxxRena and rapunzelrose13 for leaving reviews on chapter 9, you guys have no idea how much we appreciate the support.**


	11. It Begins Again

**Chapter Eleven – It Begins Again**

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><p>The next morning, Teagan groaned out as she tossed and turned in the bed. Her heart was pounding and her breathing was labored as she moved her head from side to side. Her eyes were pinned shut as she grabbed on to the bed sheet as different images flashed through her mind while she slept.<p>

It wasn't like before, when her mother was haunting her, this felt different. She could tell someone was with her, but she couldn't see them. It was like she was there, but also looking out through someone elses eyes.

At the moment, she was pacing around a room, but the picture wasn't clear enough to see exactly where she was. It didn't feel like any place she had been to before, it felt unfamiliar to her.

When she began to hear rain falling outside she glanced around with a confused look, trying to figure out where it was coming. The room she was standing in was filled with a bright sunlight, so she knew the rain wasn't coming from outside.

As the rain got louder, the noise pounding in her head, she had the urge to scream. She lowered her eyebrows, something wasn't right, something was wrong. She was about to open her mouth to yell until she heard a loud blood curling scream; causing her to drop to the floor and cover her ears with her hand to block the loud piecing noise.

Once the scream stopped, she removed her hands, then faintly heard someone talking; like they were on the phone with someone. She couldn't hear much of what they were saying, all she heard was a name... the name Maddy.

The next thing she saw was a flash of a woman floating in the water, before she snapped her eyes open and shot up in the bed with a gasp. She laid her hand against her chest, her fingers touching the puzzle piece charm. She decided to put the old necklace on before going to sleep the night before.

She glanced around, relieved she was back in her own bedroom, then lowered her eyebrows in confusion as she tried to catch her breath and tried to piece together the dream. None of it made sense to her, and as far as she could remember, she didn't even know anyone named Maddy.

Before she could think about things any further, she jumped when her bedroom door slammed opened. She laid her hand on her chest again, feeling her heart racing, as she looked up and saw a frantic Isaac in the doorway.

"Jeez, you scared the shit out of me." Teagan breathed out.

"Me? You scared the shit out of me, Teagan." Isaac said back, as he walked into the room. "I could hear your heart beating and your heavy breathing from down the hall. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just..."

"You what?" Isaac questioned, when she paused to catch her breath.

Teagan blew out a breath, as she watched him walk further into the room and sat down on the bed in front of her. She saw the concern look on his face and knew what that look meant.

He was scared. He was scared the nightmares had return. It was the same look he had while they were in Long Beach and her bad dreams woke him up. He was terrified the haunting would start up again, he was terrified of her slipping away from him again; he was scared of losing her.

She had no idea what the dream meant. It didn't feel like a regular nightmare, but it didn't feel like one of her mother's horrible nightmares either. It almost felt like someone's memory; like someone was trying to show her something, but she no idea what it meant.

She couldn't think of a way to explain what was happening without worrying him. She hating keeping things from him again, but she just needed to know more until she could tell him what was going on.

Things were already strained between them. They had a good night, the night before after returning home from the fight with the berserkers, but one good night didn't fix things. The pregnancy scare was still hanging over their heads, she knew that cause of his reaction the night before.

After a long soak in the bathtub, and a heated make out, that was as far as he wanted to go. It was almost like she could see him shutting down when they got close to going that far; almost like he was scared of another slip up. He couldn't handle another scare.

Teagan flashed him a smile, as she shook her head, then said,"It was nothing. Just a nightmare."

"About Allison?" He questioned, as he reached out to brush her hair from her face.

Teagan shrugged, as she said,"Maybe. I couldn't see the person's face." Which wasn't a lie. She knew something happened to someone, but she didn't know who it was. All she saw was a body floating in the water.

"I'm sorry." Isaac softly said, as he caressed her cheek. He hated when she had a nightmare. He knew losing Allison was hard on her, it was hard on all of them.

"I'm sorry too." Teagan said back. Knowing none of this was easy on him either. He had been through everything with her, and now something else was happening and she wasn't telling him; which she hated to do, but she just needed to know more. Besides, maybe this was a one time thing, and something like this would never happen again.

Isaac smiled at her, as he shook his head, letting her know it was okay. He moved his hand to the back of her neck, pulling her toward him to softly kiss her lips.

He pulled back to look at her, as he suggest,"How about I go make some breakfast? What do you want?"

"Hmm..." Teagan began to say, as she thought about it, trying to figure out what would be good to eat that morning. "Everything?" She suggested, as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Why did I even bother asking." Isaac joked, as he stood up from the bed. "You can never make up your mind when it comes to breakfast."

"All breakfast food is good, it's hard to pick one." Teagan pointed out. "Besides you have made me everything before. On my birthday, remember?"

"But today is not your birthday." Isaac argued with a smile. "So you have to pick one."

"Fine." Teagan groaned out dramatically, as she sat up on her knees. She crawled over to the edge of the bed, where he was standing, to wrap her arms around his neck. "I pick pancakes."

"Okay. I'll make pancakes." Isaac said, as he gave her a quick kiss and went to walk away.

He had only taken a step, when she reached out to grab his arm, as she called out,"No, wait! Waffles. I want waffles."

"Seriously?" Isaac asked, as he turned to look at her. "They are basically the same, babe. What does it matter?"

"They are not the same." Teagan argued. "Pancakes are just flat and the syrup runs off, but waffles have the little holes that hold the syrup and I'm in a big syrup mood this morning."

"You are so weird." Isaac joked, as he shook his head at her and laid his hands on her hips.

"And you love me, which makes you weird too." Teagan pointed out, as she rested her arms on his shoulders.

"Hmm, good point." Isaac said, as he thought about her comment. He turned his head to look at her, a smile on his face, as he said,"Guess we'll just be weird together."

Teagan smiled back, as she leaned forward to press her lips against his for a sweet kiss, before she laid her hands on his chest and said,"But we won't be together for much longer if you don't get to making my waffles."

She playfully pushing him back, to get out of bed. Once on her feet, she began to push him toward the door, as she called out,"Get it to, babe!"

"I feel so used right now." Isaac joked, as he let her push him closer to the door.

He quickly turned around, grabbing her arm before she could walk away and pulled her toward him. He leaned froward, kissing her the way he had been waiting to since they woke up.

Even if they were laughing and joking, he could tell something was off. He didn't know if it was her bad dream or him freezing up last night, but he could feel that something was wrong.

It's not that he didn't want to have sex with her the night before. Every part of him was ready, every part of him wanted her, but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't stop thinking of the scare they just had. How that one little mistake almost ruined everything. Nothing would have been the same again.

"See you downstairs in a few. I'm going to shower and get ready for school." Teagan said, as she broke off the kissing.

"Or I can shower with you. You know, save some water." Isaac suggest, as he pulled her back toward him and began to kiss her again.

Teagan chuckled against his lips, as she pulled back, and said,"You have waffles to make. I need my waffles."

Isaac ran his hands down her arms, laying his hands against her before intertwining their fingers together. He rested his forehead against hers, his body aching for her. The scare wasn't on his mind at the moment, only she was on his mind now.

"And I need you." Isaac breathed out, as he pulled back to look at her.

Teagan softly smiled at his words, as she leaned forward to press her lips against his, for a gentle kiss. Unfortunately before they could go too far another thought crossed his mind, something he was supposed to do that morning.

With a regrettable groan, he pulled back, ending the kiss. Causing her to give him a look as she asked him what was wrong.

"Don't hate me, but we have to stop." Isaac breathed out, as he looked down at her lips, wishing he could kiss her again.

"Again?" Teagan questioned, as she stepped back from him.

"Last night wasn't my fault. You were getting loud and I didn't want to wake up your dad." Isaac pointed out with a laugh, which was half the truth. He didn't want to tell her about the scare being on his mind though. "But this morning is not my fault. I forgot practice starts back up today."

"It's fine." Teagan said with a tight smile. She wanted to believe he wasn't pulling away, but to her it still felt like he was. She knew the scare freaked him out, but she didn't think he would pull away so suddenly like he was.

"You know this also means no waffles." Isaac pointed out, as he shot her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, I'll make it up to you later, babe." He quickly added, hating that he had to stop things again and wasn't able to make her breakfast.

"It's fine." Teagan said again, as she walked to her closet. "We can grab something on the way to school." She added, as she walked into the closet to put out something to wear.

"Teagan..." Isaac started to say, knowing from the tone of her voice things were not okay.

"It's fine." She called out again, as she poked her head out of the closet, flashing him another tight smile. "You can shower in the guest bathroom. Don't want to be late." She added before going back in to the closet.

She heard him sigh, as he walked out of the bedroom without another word. She shook her head, as she ran a hand through her hair in frustration. She hated the way things were between them right now; and if that wasn't bad enough, now she had this weird dream to figure out. She couldn't help but suddenly wish she was somewhere else right now. Maybe back in Long Beach, back when things were normal, before things began to go out of control.

**~()~**

Avery's eyes slowly started to flutter open as she started to wake up with the realization that she was cold.

Clutching the jacket she had on closer to herself she pinned her eyes shut and tried to go back to sleep, but was unable to for several reasons –one of them being the fact that she was freezing cold and the other being that something was across her side.

With that realization her eyes opened back up and as her vision slowly came into focus, she saw Derek sleeping beside her with a heavy arm draped over her side.

She continued to stare at his peaceful, sleeping face as she remembered the night before. Much like the very first night they'd spent together after their first sham of a date, they'd just spent the entire night talking. Of course, this time around the conversation wasn't so light but it was still just nice to feel connected to him again.

In fact, all she wanted to do was scoot up against his body and steal some of the warmth she could feel emitting from him but unfortunately she had several things to do that day –top of that list being attending school, which she was more than sure she was already running late for.

With a frown she gently reached down and grabbed onto his arm, slowly removing it from her side as she kept an eye on him to make sure she didn't wake him up.

Sliding out of the bed she stood up and started to take his jacket off to leave it there for him, but then changed her mind as she zipped it shut instead before she raised it to her nose and breathed in his familiar scent.

"Why are you always trying to sneak out on me?"

Letting go of the handful of fabric she'd brought to her nose, she smiled and shook her head as she glanced over her shoulder to see him lying on his side watching her.

"I'm not sneaking out." She defended but couldn't help the smile she got at remembering the morning after the first night they'd slept together. It was when he was living in the burnt remains of his family's house and he'd let her get all of the way down the stairs before letting her know she couldn't exactly sneak out on a werewolf.

"Then what are you doing?" He questioned as she finally turned to face him with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Well, for one… I'm freezing my ass off. Why wasn't I under the blankets?" She asked, watching as he stood up on the other side of the bed.

He turned and looked at her with raised eyebrows as if she should have known the answer.

"What?"

"Because you fell asleep in the middle of a sentence… on top of all the blankets." He reminded her with a small smile as he thought back to watching her trying to fight to stay awake but she nodding off. Then she'd snap back awake and pick up talking where she'd left off like nothing had happened.

"I did not!" She argued, with a laugh.

Nodding he said, "Yes you did." His eyes traveled back to the bed, then to her as he admitted, "I didn't want to wake you up." He remembered watching her as she fell asleep on his bed, how calm she'd looked which was a huge change from the ball of nervous energy and anxiety she'd been when she first got there.

Their eyes met and she smiled before turning and walking over to the coffee table where she grabbed her purse and said, "I need to go to home and change for school, I'm already late."

"Since I missed so much school from skipping and then being gone for a few months." She shrugged, "They gave me packets of homework before I left so I didn't fall too far behind but the school is still complaining about how many days of class I actually missed."

He nodded, but frowned at her leaving. With Kate not only alive but back in Beacon Hills he didn't want to let her out of his sight plus he just missed being around her.

They talked some more as he followed her outside, he looked around for her car until his eyes stopped on the black Escalade when she used the key fob to unlock the doors.

"What happened to your car?" He asked her.

Opening the door she tossed her purse into the passenger seat before tucking her hands into the pockets of his jacket she was wearing as she admitted, "I, uh… I sold my car."

"What?" He asked, obviously shocked and taken aback by the admission, "Why would you do that?"

With a weak smile she shrugged and said, "I needed a lot of money… really fast because I thought these South American hunters were holding someone I cared about."

His eyes locked in an intense stare with hers and he realized out loud, "You sold your car to get the money to try and buy me from the Calaveras?"

"Sold my car… drew twenty thousand out of the emergency account, a couple of cash advances on credit cards…"

His eyes widened and she nodded as she reasoned, "I'm not really my dad's favorite person right now, even so… he tried to buy my car back but I sold it to a classic car collector and let's face it, my car is the best of the best. So naturally… he's not going to part with it."

"Avery…" Derek started to say, but she cut him off –not wanting to talk about her car anymore.

"It's alright, I mean it really sucks but at the end of the day I'm just happy you're back home." She admitted.

"How much money did you take to Mexico?" He asked, his eyes searching her face as he spoke.

"Fifty thousand." She admitted, causing his eyes to widen as he questioned, "Did you get it back?"

With an arched brow she said, "Yeah, totally. They gave me all of the money back along with a handwritten apology for electrocuting me."

He sighed and started to say something about how this was serious and she could lose the attitude but then what she said sunk in and a pained looked spread over his face as he said, "They tortured you…"

Shrugging she looked down to her left hand, feeling the annoying almost painful burning numbness in the fingers that Kate had broken. Shaking her hand out to the side trying to regain feeling she said, "It doesn't matter…"

"Yes, it does matter. You got hurt all over again… because of me." He continued.

"No, I got hurt because sometimes my mouth fires off faster than a pistol. But it's not your fault… I'm the one who convinced everyone to come to Mexico with me." She said, trying to make him feel better. She hated when he blamed himself for the bad things that happened to her.

She turned like she was going to get into her new car, but he gently grabbed her arm stopping her before she could.

"Derek, I'm fine…" She began to assure him, but didn't get to finish her sentence as he leaned in pressing his mouth to hers and taking her completely by surprise.

Her eyelids fluttered shut and her heart immediately picked up speed in response to both his kiss and touch, as he ran his hands down her sides until his hands landed on her hips and he pushed her back against the side of her SUV.

Her hands traveled over the soft fabric of his gray shirt, and she could feel his muscles moving under the fabric as he held onto her, one of his hands tangling in her hair as he deepened the kiss, causing her to let out a muffled moan into his mouth.

Sliding her hands up farther she held onto the back of his head and neck as she arched away from the cold metal of the car and against him. Feeling her stomach fluttering in excitement at his touch and at the familiar taste of his mouth she started to realize for the first time how much she'd truly missed him

**~()~**

After hitting a fast food drive thru for a quick breakfast, Isaac pulled back out on to the road and began to drive toward school. He glanced over at Teagan from the corner of his eye, seeing her picking at her food, but never saw her actually take a bite.

"I'm sorry." He spoke up and said, taking her by surprise. He turned his head to look at her, as he added,"I know you wanted waffles and had a settle for a biscuit."

"It's okay. It's good." Teagan said, as she flashed him a small smile. "I'm just not as hungry as I thought I was." She added, as she wrapped the biscuit back up and put it back in the bag.

He shook his head, not saying anything back, as he looked back at the road. He knew something was wrong with her, the girl never turned down breakfast unless something was wrong, and he had a good idea what was wrong. Between the two rejections from him and the nightmare he could tell she was closing off from him and he hated that.

He couldn't help with the nightmare, but he could at least show her how much she means to him. He never wanted her to think he didn't love her or didn't want her, nothing was further from the truth.

"Tonight is the night your dad works really late, right?" He questioned, as he glanced over at her for a moment before looking back at the road, seeing the school building coming up.

"Yeah, why?" She asked back, as he pulled into the parking lot.

"Well, I'm just thinking. We'll have the house to ourselves, and I owe you waffles..." He began to say, as he looked over at her with a grin. After parking and turning the car off, he turned to face her, laying a hand on her knee. "As well as other stuff." He continued, as he moved his hand up, pushing her skirt up and running his hand over her bare thigh.

"Isaac..." Teagan breathed out, feeling goosebumps pop up from his touch. She glanced around the parking lot, relieved to see no one was around. Since they were one of the first ones there, the parking lot was basically empty. The only other cars that were there belonged to teachers or other lacrosse players, but no one was in the parking lot at the time.

She turned her head back to look at him, as she shook her head and began to say,"We don't-"

Before she could finish her sentence, he lightly grabbed her arm, pulling her toward him, as he whispered out,"Come here."

Once she was straddling his lap, he leaned forward to press his lips against hers for a tender kiss. When she shifted around on his lap, he groaned out and tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling her closer to him as he deepened the kiss.

As she rested her forehead against his for a moment to catch her breath, he sighed, then said,"I wish I didn't have practice." He pulled back to look at her, as he continued,"I wish I could sit here with you, take advantage of this empty parking lot." He leaned forward pressing his lips against the front of her neck, causing her to wrap her arms around his neck, as she titled her head back, giving him better access.

He licked and sucked on the front of her neck, then kissed up her neck and across her chin to capture her lips again for a heated kiss. He nibbled on her bottom lip, before saying,"If it was up to me, we'll do like we did in Long Beach. Just stay in bed." He laid his hands on either side of her legs, moving his hands up to slip them under her skirt, as he ran them over her silk-clad butt. "Remember that day we spent all day in bed? Remember all the things we did to each other?" He questioned, as he flashed her a grin before leaning forward to kiss her lips.

"I remember." She mumbled against his lips. That was one of their very good days while they were away. One of those days where they connected more than just sexually, they were connecting emotionally and were healing. It was one of those days where she knew they would be okay, that they could make it through anything.

Today, however, was not one of those days.

When that thought hit her, she pulled back from him; a small smile on her face, as she quietly said,"But we're not in Long Beach anymore."

"We can pretend we are." Isaac said back. He laid his hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, as he said,"Tonight. We'll recreate Long Beach."

In his mind that is all they needed. To push everything else aside, the pregnancy scare, the latest monster problems, and just be together. They still had healing to do, they needed to reconnect and everything would be okay.

"Isaac, you don't have to-"

"I know." He interrupted. "I know we don't have to, and if you don't want to, we won't, but I just want a night with you. It feels like forever since we left the comfort of that hotel, but it's only been a few days and I just... I need you, Teagan." He ran his fingertips over her cheek, across her jaw and then over her bottom lip. He stared at her lips, licking his bottom lip, as he breathed out,"I need all of you." His eyes flickered up to look into her eyes, as he continued,"I need every part of you. Your heart, your body, just everything."

"I want that too." Teagan whispered, as she laid her hands on either side of his face. "I want it all too." She added, as she leaned forward to press her lips against his for a gentle kiss.

"Tonight?" Isaac questioned, his lips inches from hers.

"Tonight." Teagan whispered, before pressing her lips against his again for another kiss before the two got out of the car together.

As Teagan fixed her skirt, Isaac leaned into the backseat, pulling out his gym bag and book bag, as well as her book bag and purse. He handed her the purse and book bag, then grabbed her hand, as the two began to walk across the parking lot together and headed for the lacrosse field.

Teagan smiled and threw her free hand up, waving at Scott and Stiles; who were standing on the edge of the field talking. The couple stopped beside the two boys, as they all made small talk with each other for a few minutes.

"Now, I know why we are here early, but why are you?" Stiles asked, as he looked over at Teagan. "Didn't think you were into watching sweaty boys early in the morning."

"I'm not." Teagan said, as she chuckled at his comment. She patted Isaac's arm, as she added,"I'm just here to drop off the boyfriend."

"You know you like it when I'm all sweaty." Isaac joked, as he pulled her closer to him. He leaned down to place his lips against her ear, as he quietly added,"Or maybe that's just during sex."

Scott cleared his throat, getting their attention, as he said,"You know I can hear that, right?"

"Even I can hear that." Stiles pointed out, as he made a face. "You two are never as quiet as you think you are when you have your little sex talks or tell your sex jokes." He pointed out.

Isaac shrugged, not caring who heard the things he said, Teagan on the other hand was a little more shy about it. She shot the boys a small smile, apologizing to them for the times they had over shared and they overheard it.

"We'll make sure to be quieter next time." Teagan stated.

A smile appeared on Isaac's face, and he couldn't stop himself, as he said,"Don't believe it. She can never be quiet."

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she turned her head to look at her boyfriend with wide eyes. She called out his name, as she slapped his shoulder, which only caused him to laugh more.

"Hmm, yeah, I can see that." Stiles said, as he nodded his head deep in thought. "I always kinda imagined she would be a screamer."

"What?" Teagan and Isaac called out together, as they looked over at him. Hers in shock and his in anger.

"Whoa, no, I don't mean it like that." Stiles said, as he held up his hand, seeing the looks on their faces. "It's not like I have imagined you like that..." He continued, as he looked over at Teagan. "I just mean, it's usually the ones who seem quiet and shy, that are the loudest in bed. At least that is what I read one time." He added with a shrug.

"Did you read that the same place that you read if a guy watches a lot of porn it means he is terrible in bed?" Teagan questioned Stiles with a laugh. Remembering he told her that one time.

"That's not true." Isaac and Scott said at the same time.

"Ew..." Teagan said, as she looked over at Scott. She turned her head to look at Isaac, as she continued,"And ew." Between the porn talk with Stiles last time and the conversation this time, she now knew all three boys watched porn, which is something she didn't need to know. She shook her head, then glanced over at Isaac again with a smile, as she added,"But I agree, it's not true."

"Ew." Scott and Stiles said at the same time, now it was their turn to be disgusted. They knew what she meant by her comment and they never wanted to know how good Isaac was at sex.

Stiles made a face, as he shook his head and said,"Okay, we definitely need to change the subject now. Besides we have other problems, like 117 million problems and how Isaac is in the sack, is not one of them."

As Isaac smirked at the comment, Teagan spoke up and asked,"Has anyone got in touch with Mr. Argent? I tried to call him when we got back from Mexico but didn't get an answer and I didn't leave a message. This isn't something you leave a message about."

"I texted him." Scott stated.

"You told him his sister Kate came back from the dead over a text?" Stiles questioned, as he looked over at his best friend.

"I didn't have the money to call France." Scott said with a shrug. That was all he could think of to do.

"Well, at least he knows now." Isaac pointed out.

Stiles dramatically rolled his eyes at the comment, then said,"You know, I'm starting to think maybe worrying about our status on the lacrosse team is the least of our problems. I mean what the hell are we even doing here? We have a psycho werejaguar running around; who has huge skeletor-looking creatures as pets I might add."

Teagan nodded her head, as she added,"Yeah, I mean, why do any of you even need to be here this morning?" She looked over at Isaac, laying a hand on his stomach, as she said,"You're one of the best players on the team." She turned to look at Scott, as she added,"So are you and you're the captain. And you..." She pointed over to Stiles, and opened her mouth, but nothing else come out, as she tried to think of what to say.

"Thanks, T, seriously, your support means a lot." Stiles said sarcastically.

"I do support you, Stiles." Teagan said honestly. She chuckled at the face he made, then continued,"Seriously! You've gotten better! You scored some in the last game, remember? And I'm sure coach remembers too."

While Teagan and Stiles were talking, Scott and Isaac's attention was on the field, as they saw someone step in as goalie while a couple of the other boys were warming up and throwing balls at the goal.

Isaac quietly whistled out, a little impressed that someone was able to catch every ball, as Scott's eyebrows shot up and he said,"Maybe we should be worried."

"Nah, I'm not worried." Isaac argued. He didn't care who it was, he knew he was good and as soon as practice started he would be able to show that.

"Who the hell is that?" Stiles questioned out loud, as the boy stepped out of the goal and removed his helmet, revealing someone they had never seen before.

They heard one of the other boys, named Garrett, called out,"Nice, Liam. You might just be our first ever freshman captain."

Teagan and Isaac looked back over at Scott, seeing the look on his face. Teagan laid a hand on his shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze. She had no doubt that he would be captain again. He had earned it.

"Okay, maybe we should just practice a little bit." Stiles pointed out, as he and Scott walked away from the couple and made their way toward the field.

Teagan and Isaac stood side by side, watching Liam as he tossed around a few balls with his friends, showing off how good he was. When one of his friends missed the ball, it rolled over toward them, stopping in front of Teagan.

Liam jogged over toward them, leaning down to pick up the ball, his eyes landing on Teagan's bare legs until he heard Isaac's clear his throat in warning. He quickly stood up, flashing the two a friendly smile, before he held out his hand and introduced himself. He knew if he wanted to make it in this school he couldn't be intimidated by his older peers, he felt like they would respect him more if he didn't coward away.

Isaac shook his hand with a firm handshake, as he introduced himself. Teagan flashed him a smile back, as she told him her name as well.

"You new here?" Isaac questioned, as he wrapped an arm around Teagan's waist, not liking the way Liam's eyes kept drifting back to her.

"Yeah, just transferred. From Devenford Prep." Liam answered.

Isaac lowered his eyebrows when he heard his heart skip at the answer, but before he could say anything else, Teagan spoke up and said,"Well, welcome to Beacon Hills."

"Thanks." Liam said, as he smiled at her.

"What made you decide to transfer here?" Isaac asking, wanting to know more about this newbie.

"Lacrosse team is pretty good and I just wanted to play." Liam said vaguely. He pointed behind him toward the field, as he added,"I better get back out there."

They watched him run back over to his friends, then Teagan looked over at Isaac, seeing the look on his face, causing her to say,"Maybe I should stay for practice."

"It's fine. You don't have to stay." Isaac argued. He knew she had planned to go inside and finish up the work she missed when she recently went to the doctors.

"But I know what that look on your face means." She said.

"I just don't trust that kid. He's lying about something. I heard his heart skip." Isaac pointed out.

"Maybe it's nothing bad. Maybe he just doesn't want people to know." Teagan suggested. "Not everyone is hiding some deep, dark, secret."

"If it's not bad, then it shouldn't matter if people know." Isaac argued.

"Isaac..." She began to say, knowing he was trying to keep his anger under control.

"I won't do anything." He interrupted, knowing what she was going to say.

When he saw her open her mouth, he pressed his lips against hers to stop her from saying a word. He rested his forehead against hers, as he quietly said,"I promise I won't do anything."

Teagan nodded her head, accepting his answer and knew he would keep his word. She smiled at him before she leaned forward to give him another kiss, telling him she would see him later.

Isaac gave her forehead a quick kiss, then watched her as she walked away. He turned to face the field and blew out annoyed breath when he realized someone else was watching her walk away as well, it was the new kid; Liam. But when he noticed Isaac watching him, he quickly looked away.

He took a few deep breaths, trying to keep his anger at bay, then as if knowing he needed her, he heard her whisper out his name, knowing he would be able to hear her know matter how far away she was.

He turned his head, seeing that she had stopped walking and was looking at him with a smile on her face.

He smiled back when she mouthed the words, 'it's you and me', knowing that would calm him down. He mouthed the words back, then saw her wink at him before she turned and began to walk away again.

With a smile still on his face, he turned back to face the field, his anger melted away. He didn't care who this new kid was, at the moment he didn't even care what his big secret could be. All he knew was, he was good at the game and had everything he ever wanted; a good life and the girl of his dreams, nothing else mattered.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you for reading, we both really hope you liked the chapter. We owe a special thank you to everyone who has added this story to your favorites and/or subscribed for update alerts! It seems so unbelievable that we're already writing season 4 of Teen Wolf with our Blue Moon series, it feels like it was only last week that Miss E Charlotte and I were discussing working on a collab, I honestly cannot believe that was well over a year ago.**

**Through the journey of writing this story and bringing Teagan and Avery to life, we've spent countless hours writing, plotting, making Blue Moon related things, plotting so more and rewriting. I'm not exaggerating when I say this story has taken over both of our lives and we wouldn't have it any other way. ^_^ Along the way, we've made a few decisions that weren't exactly in popular opinion but through it all we have always tried to stay true to our girls' characters and personalities. We're aiming to write people and not just characters on the page and sometimes that results in them being not so likable but no one is perfect and those are the kind of stories we want to create. **

**We've seem to have lost more readers than we've gained, so if you've stuck with us through the series we both thank you from the bottom of our hearts! We honestly cannot even begin to tell you how much we love this story and if there is even one person out there who loves it as much as we do then all of the hours of hard work we've put into it are worth it. And we both just really want say thank you for sticking with us on this crazy journey and let you know that we truly do appreciate you.**

**Even though we don't really know anything about season 5 yet, we're already talking about extending the series to that point.**

**We'd also like to give a shout out to; SmellYourScentForMiles, Kayela-Brown-1228, xxxRena, Maze and Guest for reviewing chapter 10! We're glad you all liked it! ^_^**


	12. History Repeating

**Chapter Twelve – History Repeating**

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><p>"Hey guys!" Kira said with a cheerful smile as she walked up to Teagan and Stiles as they were in line to pay for their school lunch.<p>

"Hey Kira." Teagan greeted without returning the smile.

Both girls looked over at Stiles who nodded a greeting and tried to say something but his words were muffled by the chicken sandwich hanging out of his mouth as he felt his jeans pocket for his wallet.

With a small laugh at him, Kira turned back to Teagan and asked, "Where's Isaac?"

"Making up a test." She explained.

Kira nodded and looked down to her lunch tray as the line moved forward and said that the last she'd heard from Scott he was spending lunch in the library trying to study for their upcoming PSAT.

After they all paid for their lunches and headed out into the lunchroom, Stiles and Teagan stopped and both scanned the room causing Kira to ask what they were doing.

"You haven't see Avery, have you?" Teagan asked, worried about her best friend who she hadn't seen in any of her morning classes.

"Not today."

"This is bad… this is really bad." Stiles said under his breath.

Kira looked over at them, her eyes growing wide as she questioned, "She's okay, right? Like… this whole Kate thing is going to make her lose it again?"

When Teagan shot her a look Kira stuttered out, "Not that she went crazy before… or you. Not that any of you went crazy –I just meant I hope she's okay."

Feeling the room was starting to get a little smaller and more crowded, Teagan said, "I'm going to sit outside… I need some air." By the time she reached the door she'd almost broke into a run.

She knew Kira hadn't meant any offense from what she'd said but it didn't change the fact that those words still hurt. Especially after the nightmares were back, not the same as before but it still felt so real.

Once the trio was all outside of the school Stiles kept asking Teagan if she was okay, which she swore she was. She couldn't begin to tell her friend that she was having nightmares again, not when at the current moment Kate Argent was alive –lurking around Beacon Hills planning god knows what.

"Hey, there she is!" Kira said pointing to a picnic table where they saw Avery sitting on the table with her high heeled boots on the seat, she was looking down at the computer tablet in her hands and didn't see her friends approaching her.

"Well she looks okay, that's good right?" Kira asked.

Teagan opened her mouth but before she could say anything Stiles said, "No that's bad, very bad. It means she's holding everything in and we should make her cry."

"What?" Kira gasped.

Teagan shook her head, "We're not going to make her cry. We're just going to talk to her."

"Hey A." Teagan greeted as the came to a stop next to the table.

Looking up she flashed them a smile as she cheerfully greeted, "Hey, guys!"

They watched as she shut the screen of the tablet off and closed the case around it before tucking it back into her purse. With confused expressions at her seemingly happy attitude, they all sat across from her while she moved from the table down to bench and faced them.

"Aren't you hungry?" Kira finally asked.

"No, I went to Pammy's before I got here." She explained.

"Pammy's?" Kira asked.

"Yes!" Avery beamed, "It's this great little place I've been going to for years… seriously the best food in town. I'll have to take you one day."

Teagan stared at her blonde friend trying to see beyond the wide smile she was wearing, but by all accounts it didn't seem like she was pretending.

"I see how it is." Stiles said before shoveling a bite of green beans in his mouth and adding, "You said you wouldn't take me there."

Avery laughed and Teagan said, "She's only ever really taken me and Lydia to Pammy's…"

Avery nodded but said, "Stiles you can come too. Teagan you bring Isaac, and we can bring Scott and Lydia, even Malia can come with us… and Derek we could all go this weekend or something? I'll buy!"

Teagan nearly choked on the drink of water she was trying to take to wash down the bite of salad she'd taken. "Are you okay?" She asked between coughs and gasps for air.

"I am." She nodded with a smile at her friends.

"Are you sure?" Teagan pushed, normally she didn't try and push her friend too much but this act that she seemed to be putting on was really worrying her.

Then Teagan's eyebrows lowered as she asked, "Wait… who all are we taking to Pammy's?"

"The four of us." She said motioning between herself, Teagan, Stiles and Kira, before continuing, "And we'll bring Scott, Isaac, Lydia, Malia and …"

Her voice trailed off as she grabbed Teagan's water and took a drink, trying to give a reasonable excuse for why she didn't finish her sentence.

"And who else, A?" The brunette pushed, knowing exactly who else her best friend had suggested.

Stiles looked between then growing more uncomfortable by the second as Kira innocently spoke up recalling what Avery had said as she asked, "Derek?"

Teagan snapped her gaze sideways to their friend causing Stiles to lean back on the bench some trying to get out of the line of Teagan's fiery gaze as Avery beamed a smile, "What a great idea, Kira. Yes! We should invite Derek too."

"I think it's a horrible idea, Kira." Teagan argued causing their new friend to look down at her tray as she breathed, "It wasn't really my idea…"

Seeing her struggling Stiles shrugged and said, "I don't know… Derek doesn't really seem to be the breakfast type…"

"He's not." Teagan quickly agreed.

"How would you know, T? How many breakfasts have you had with Derek?" Avery shot back at her with narrowed eyes.

"What about you, A? Did you eat breakfast alone today?" Teagan pushed.

"Yes!" Avery exclaimed rolling her eyes and knowing what Teagan was insinuating.

"Really? Because I know for a fact that's not your jacket… it's Derek's. Which means one of two things, either you got up really early this morning to see him or he was already at your house." The brunette pointed out, angry that Avery seemed to be so willingly slipping back into old habits and knowing very well that Derek was a bad habit her friend couldn't seem to shake.

"Maybe I was at his place." Avery said with a shrug, trying to hold her anger in but Teagan wouldn't let up as she dropped her fork to her tray with a loud clank and asked, "And why were you at his loft?"

Kira made some gasping noises as she fought for air after nearly choking on her drink at the turn the conversation had taken. Reaching over Stiles slapped her on the back a few times, and tried to think of a way to get away from Teagan and Avery because he could feel a major storm brewing between his friends.

"Go ahead, tell us! Why… why on earth after everything you've been through would you have been at his place last night?" Teagan continued relentlessly as she motioned to Stiles and Kira and added, "We're all dying to know why you were there."

Kira continued to try and catch her breath as Stiles began to say, "Actually I don't want to…"

But Avery didn't let him talk as she loudly said, "Maybe we were having hot, wild sex, Teagan. Is that what you want to hear?"

Teagan's cheek's darkened and she blew out a heavy, irritated breath as she shook her head.

Stiles stared down to his tray and breathed out, "Oh my god…"

Kira flipped her head from side to side seeing some of the students eating lunch at nearby tables were starting to stare at them.

"Umm, Avery…" Kira started to say but before she could get her sentence out Teagan was struck by another jolt of anger as she yelled, "Well, I hope it was worth it…"

This time Avery didn't even let her finish as she yelled even louder, "Oh it was… best sex I've ever had! Are you happy now, T?"

"And… suddenly I don't have an appetite anymore." Stiles breathed as he stood up and looked between the best friends, both of them locked in an unwavering angry stare.

He'd been around Avery when she'd gotten that look on her face before and it was almost always before she let someone have it, he also knew that if anyone wouldn't just quietly take it when Avery ripped into them it was Teagan and Lydia. So he thought he needed to get out of the danger zone .

"Come on, Kira… we should check on Scott." Stiles nodded for her to follow them.

Kira, seeming both confused and almost obvious to the fight that was sure to ensue argued, "He said he wanted to be left alone to study…"

She didn't get to finish her argument as Stiles said, "Unless you want to be caught in the crossfire of world war three… you should come with me."

Looking between the defeated brunette with her head still in her hands and over to the blonde staring a hole through her best friend, Kira's mind flashed back to being in Mexico with the best friends fighting.

She almost tripped over her own feet as she scrambled off of the picnic table bench and hurried off after Stiles as the pair made a break for the safety of the school.

Avery closed her eyes for a few moments trying to control the surge of anger that had shot through her, she knew Teagan had reasons to feel the way she did about Derek, and she could also tell something was bothering was her friend.

"Teagan, what's wrong?" Avery finally asked.

Finally removing her hands from her face Teagan hugged her thin purple jacket around her and shrugged, "I'm just worried about you trying to hold everything in again, and the fact that we literally just got Derek back and you're already sleeping with him."

"I'm not holding things in... Kate's alive and I know this… I hate it but I have to accept it. And the idea of her running around our town scares me as much as whatever it was she did to age Derek backwards. But we were trained to handle situations like this, to face our fears and not back down. To not let our personal feelings and fear get in the way." Avery calmly reminded her friend.

"And Derek?" Teagan asked, her voice much softer and understanding this time.

"I was with him last night…" She breathed, "But we just talked… literally we sat up all night talking until apparently I crashed in the middle of a sentence."

"So you didn't…" Her friends voice trailed off.

Shaking her head back and forth Avery said, "The most we did was kiss… and that was this morning."

Teagan opened her mouth to say something but paused when she saw a smile spread over her best friend's red, glossed lips.

"It was great, T. Like, I knew I missed him but I don't think I realized how much I missed him until he kissed me, you know?" She said, not waiting on a response as she continued, "He kind of pinned me against the car… it was actually a lot like our first kiss."

Her mind drifted back to the night he'd pinned her against the front door of her house and kissed her, the feeling she'd gotten from that one kiss had completely changed everything for her.

"Actually…" Avery breathed, "The whole thing is kind of like before… that first night we sat up talking all night, but this time it was so different… we've been through a lot but maybe it could work this time around?"

Running her hands through her hair Teagan said, "But what if it doesn't work? What if he hasn't changed and things just get worse. I understand all of this is making you remember how great things were in the beginning… but look at how everything turned out the first time."

When she blonde lowered her head Teagan quickly said, "I'm not trying to hurt you, I want to keep you from getting hurt. He blew through your life like a hurricane… and then left you alone to try and pick up all of the broken pieces. But I was there, I saw what happened and how much it hurt you and that killed me. I just don't want to see you go through all of that again."

Avery picked at some peeling paint from the picnic table they were now sitting alone at as she said, "Tell me what's really bothering you. I know you better than anyone and as worried as you are about tropical storm Derek, I know there's more too it."

"Tropical storm Derek." Teagan repeated back with a small, defeated smiled, before taking a deep breath and quietly saying, "Things seemed almost back to normal with Isaac and me last night… it felt like we were finally a couple again."

Avery smiled at her friends words but her smile quickly fell as Teagan admitted, "But then after I fell asleep… I had another nightmare."

"Did you see your mom?" Avery gasped, her heart racing wildly inside of her chest as she started to think that she was going to have to get back in her friends head and close up that door again.

"No… the nightmare was just as real as the ones with her, but it was also so different…"

"Different how?"

"It was, I don't know… it felt like I was seeing things through someone else eyes. Just flashes and sensations, then all I could hear was the sound of rain but it was sunny outside. I saw someone face down in water and there was this scream… so loud, I'll never forget the sound of it." She admitted shivering as a chill ran up her spine and she replayed the images in her mind.

"Well…"

Teagan raised her head looking at the blonde as she asked, "Well? Well what?"

"T, that door was open in your mind for a very long time. I shut it but that doesn't mean there wouldn't be any lasting effects… to be honest I was kind of afraid something like this could happen." Avery admitted to her, wishing she could just take it all away so her friend wouldn't be so worried.

Shaking her head back and forth with an idea of what Avery meant, but not wanting to accept it Teagan asked, "What are you talking about? Something like what?"

"That you could possibly be sensitive to things, like… extrasensory feelings and possibly the spirit world."

The brunette's jaw dropped as she breathed, "The s-spirit world? I'm sensitive to ghosts now? I don't even like being in the same room as an Ouija board!"

"I know and I'm also not saying that's a hundred percent whats happening, but it is a possibility. It could also be that you're just having crazy dreams because of all the stress you've been under." She tried to ease her friends mind, but also prepare her in case it was something paranormal going on.

Teagan nodded looking down to her hands folded in her lap as she hoped it was over, that it was just stress and there wouldn't be any more nightmares. But she had this feeling like it was only the beginning like she was on the first page of a mystery book and the rest still needed to be written.

As the bell rang, Teagan gathered her tray and the girls headed for the school as Teagan looked back over to her friend she asked, "Are you serious? You're really thinking about trying things again with Derek?"

"I know you don't like him… but you don't know him, not the real him... not the sides of him that only I get to see." Avery smiled, "Being around him makes me realize that I don't want to be numb like I was before, that even with all of the pain I have to let in… it's worth it because of the way he makes me feel."

Teagan managed a smile for her friend's sake, but inside she was still worried. It was great to know that Avery wanted to feel, but what would happen when he left or did something that hurt her and then she'd find out she let herself be open to all of these new feelings and in the end only ended up feeling pain.

"You really think it's a bad idea…" Avery realized, her expression falling.

As they came to a stop at her locker Teagan admitted, "I've tried to like him… I've tried to trust him, but I can't. Every time, A. Every single time I started to think he wasn't that bad –he's done something to make me realize he's worse that I though in the first place. I want you to be happy… I want so many great things for you because you deserve all of it and so much more." She paused pulling in a breath as she continued, "It just worries me when the person you're looking at to make you happy is the one who's let you down again and again."

Avery nodded, hearing her friend's words but not wanting to believe them. In her mind Derek had grown up a lot since she'd first met him.

Seeing Avery's now somber expression, Teagan said, "Are you okay?"

The blonde jumped as her phone rang from her pocket, pulling it out she looked and saw it was it was a text from Derek just to check on her.

She smiled and sent a quick text back before looping her arm with Teagan and saying, "I'm fine, T."

"That was Derek, wasn't it?" She sighed as they headed for their next class.

"He's different this time… I mean, we're not even really together. We've just talked and kissed and he's texting me first." She happily pointed out. Even if he wasn't there in person, he'd sent her a text in the middle of the day –which mean while she was at school missing him he had to be thinking about her too.

**~()~**

As Avery was started to enter the combination to her locker, someone grabbed her arm and started to drag her down the hallway.

"What is going on?" She asked as she realized it was Stiles who had a hold of her.

"I don't know." Scott admitted as he waved to Kira who was walking over to them.

Stiles started to explain what was going on that an entire family in Beacon Hills had been killed, everyone except for a teenage boy. As he filled them in on what he knew Kira asked, "An axe murderer?"

"A family murdering axe murderer." Stiles corrected.

"Sounds like the plot to a bad horror movie." Avery joked as she walked with her friends.

"I already heard about it." Scott explained, how his mom had called him from the hospital to tell him because Melissa knew they'd see it on the news.

"Perfect then let's go." Stiles called over his shoulder as he started to walk away, but Scott called after him to wait as he pointed out, "We've got econ in 5 minutes."

"Right." Stiles nodded, "But did you just forget about the part about the family murdering axe murderer?"

"Did you forget that your dad is the sheriff, he'd want us to stay out of it." Scott reasoned.

Before Stiles could protest he continued, "We have the PSAT's coming up soon and I've been working really hard trying to study and get ready. I can't afford to miss any more classes…" His voice trailing off as he saw the dry erase board on the inside of his locker door had a new message written on it. _'Just Breathe -A'_

He smiled as he took a deep breath thinking it was exactly what he needed after spending all day stressing about his grades and trying to study.

"Thanks." He said smiling at Avery who returned the friendly smile then looked down to her phone to see if she had any new text messages.

"Wait…" He said with a confused expression, "How did you even get my combination?"

"Oh I don't need it." She explained as she pulled her keys from her purse and help up a small metal key as she pointed with her other hand to the small key hole in the center of the combination locks on the lockers and said, "This key will open any locker in the school, it's a master key."

Stiles grabbed the keys from her hand and opened up the locker beside Scott's with a stunned expression as he breathed, "It's works…"

Scott stared at the open locker wide eyed and Kira asked, "How did you even get that?"

"I'm Avery Dukate." She simply responded as she wrestled her keys back from Stiles' hands.

"We have to go to the murder house, see what's there… what you can sniff out." Stiles said to Scott, then pointed to Avery as he said, "And I want a copy of that key."

"Not a chance." She shot him down with a wide smile.

"It's not our place to do anything about this, Stiles." Scott held his ground.

Nodding Kira agreed, "Maybe we should just let the adults handle it?"

Looking to Avery he said, "Looks like it's just you and me then."

Her expression went blank for a moment as her mind drifted back to when Stiles was the nogisunte and had fed from her pain.

Shaking her head and trying not to think about it she said, "Actually Stiles, I think Scott and Kira are right. It's like Deaton said, we need to get back to living our own lives."

He stared at her in shock, before he said, "So you guys all just want to stay here in school and go to class?"

When the trio nodded he sighed and loudly exclaimed, "I've never heard of anything so irresponsible in my life!"

As he turned and stormed off down the hallway, Scott called after his best friend, "See you at tryouts?"

In response Stiles threw his arms out to the side and picked up his pace.

Avery looked over to see the student who had the locker right next to Scott's walk up to find his locker still standing wide open from where Stiles had used Avery's key on it.

The student turned and stared at questioningly, the alpha gave a shrug in response trying to look like he had no idea what happened.

Avery lowered her head and held back a laugh as she flashed Scott and Kira and smile before turning and heading off to find Lydia.

**~()~**

Teagan walked down the hallway, making her way through the crowd of students, trying to get to her locker before making her way to the other side of the building to make it to her next class.

She had just turned a corner when she heard someone calling out her name. She came to a stop and turned around, waiting to see who it was, and saw Malia rounding the corner at full speed to catch her.

Teagan chuckled as she grabbed on to her arms to help slow her down. If she had not reacted so quickly, she had a feeling the other girl would have knocked her down to the floor.

"Hey, slow down." Teagan said, as she released her arms and took a step back. "What's the big emergency? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just wanted to show you something." Malia said, as she opened her folder and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Look!" She said excitedly, as she showed Teagan the paper; which Teagan saw was an English test that had a '73' on it.

"That's great, Malia!" Teagan said, as she smiled at her.

"Thanks for your notes. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have passed." Malia said. The three girls; Teagan. Lydia and Avery were giving her their notes in each subject they were the best in, trying to help her get caught up.

As Teagan nodded her head, as if to say, 'you're welcome', Malia added,"Can you still help me with the homework this afternoon?"

"Of course." Teagan said. "Are you going to the tryouts? To watch Stiles?"

"Yes. I want to support him." Malia said with a nod. She lowered her eyebrows, as she added,"But I have no idea how lacrosse works."

"It's okay." Teagan said with a laugh. "I'll teach you the basics of lacrosse too."

Malia nodded her head in thanks, then asked,"Have you seen Avery? I need to ask her an econ question. She knows a lot about business and money."

"That's cause she spends a lot of money." Teagan joked. She glanced around the hallway, seeing Avery talking to Scott and Kira. She pointed over there, as she said,"There she is." Then when she saw Avery began to walk away from them, she added,"Well there she goes."

"I can catch her." Malia said with a confident expression on her face. She knew she could catch just about anyone with her speed. But before she could rush down the hall, Teagan quickly grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Whoa, wait a minute. Don't chase after her like you would a prey. Remember how we talked about the way to act in school?" Teagan questioned, making sure she remembered the things they taught her.

"Right, I remember." Malia said, as she lowered her head for a moment. "While in public don't use fangs or claws or chase down people like they are food."

"Right." Teagan said with a nod, as she flashed her a smile; letting her know she was doing good.

"Thanks, Teagan." Malia said, as she held out her arms, causing Teagan to lower her eyebrows in confusion. "We hug, right? I've seen you and Avery do it before."

"Sure, we can hug." Teagan said with a laugh, as she gave the girl a quick hug, before she turned and walked down the hallway, looking for Avery.

Teagan shook her head, a chuckle on her lips, as she turned around to continue down the hall, but before she could take a step, she jumped back in surprise when she saw Isaac standing there.

"Jeez what is up with you 'weres' today?" She joked, as he reached out to grab her hand. "First Malia almost knocks me down and now you're sneaking up on me."

"Sorry, babe." Isaac said, as he lifted their joined hands to his lips, kissing the back of her hand. "So what has my girl so happy today?" He questioned, when he saw the smile on her face.

"You know that test Malia had? The one I let her borrow my notes on?" She asked. When he nodded his head, she continued,"She passed. Well sorta, she made a 73, but it's still a pass and she is very excited. It was nice seeing her all happy and knowing I helped. I think she is adapting pretty well and I'm proud of her."

"She is doing good. I think she makes a great addition to the pack." Isaac said. "Not sure what she sees in Stiles, but she's a good pack member."

Teagan chuckled at his comment, as she stopped at her locker to change out her books. He leaned against the locker beside hers, watching her for a moment, before he leaned toward her to whisper in her ear,"It's good seeing you happy."

She turned her head to look at him, the smile still on her face. He laid his hands on her hips, turning her to face him, as he said,"Keep that smile on you for tonight, cause I plan to make you very, very happy."

"You already do." Teagan pointed out, as she leaned forward to softly kiss his lips. She smiled at him again, as she wiped at his lips, wiping her lipgloss from them.

She opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, she saw Kira and Scott over his shoulder. Scott gave Kira a quick peek on the lips before he rushed off to class; which not only surprised her, but from the looks of it, it surprised Kira too.

"What is it?" Isaac questioned, as he turned his head to see what she was looking at and saw Kira standing still with wide eyes.

"I have no idea." Teagan mumbled, not even sure what she just saw. She knew Scott and Kira had been getting closer, but as far as she knew, they were not technically together yet.

"Come on." She added, as she slammed her locker shut and walked over toward Kira to talk to her. She looked like she really needed to unload on someone.

"Hey, Kira. Is everything okay?" Teagan asked, as she and Isaac stopped in front of the other girl.

"Yeah, I think... I-I don't know." Kira answered. "Scott just did something very confusing and a little weird."

"I saw." Teagan quietly said with a concern look on her face.

"What did he do?" Isaac asked, confused.

"Shh, this is girl talk." Teagan teased, as she reached out to lay her hand over his mouth.

"Fine, I know when I'm not wanted." Isaac joked. "I'll see you later." He said before leaning forward to give her a sweet kiss. He gave Kira a wave; who was staring at them, her eyes wide again.

"See! That's a kiss!" Kira exclaimed, once Isaac was gone. "That is how you kiss someone who you like. That is not what Scott did." She sighed, as her face fell, before adding,"That was our first kiss since our first kiss and the first kiss was good but that kiss was not. That was how you kiss a family member or something."

"Remind me never to go to any of your family dinners." Teagan joked, trying to lighten the mood. When she saw the look on Kira's face, she laid a hand on her shoulder, as she said,"I'm kidding. But as far as Scott is concern, he likes you, Kira. We can all see it, you two just haven't had a chance to have the talk yet. So much has happened. But don't get too disappointed and just give him a chance to explain, okay?"

"Okay." Kira mumbled, as she gave a short nod. "He did say he wanted to talk after tryouts."

"So, see! He wants to talk and explain. Give him a chance." Teagan pointed out. She gave her shoulder another friendly pat, as she added,"It's going to be okay."

Before either girl could say anything else, the bell began to ring, signaling the start of class. The girls told each other bye, then walked off to their classes. With the way things were going that day, Teagan was able to push the nightmare from that morning aside, for a moment she was able to push aside everything. Despite everything else going on, for once she felt like things would be okay. Maybe all of them would be okay.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN-Thank you all for reading!**

**I think there might have been a little confusion on the last chapter with a joke between Stiles and Teagan that some of you might have taken the wrong way, so Miss E Charlotte and I wanted to clear the air and let anyone who was confused know that we have ****no ****intention of making this into a Stiles/Teagan/Isaac triangle. If we'd planned on getting Stiles and Teagan together, we probably wouldn't have bothered keeping Isaac around for season 4.**

**That being said we'd like to thank; SmellYourScentForMiles, DancingDorisDay, Omega Banshee, BloomingBlueMoon85, xxxRena, guest and last but certainly not least Exuberance of Youth for getting caught up and being so nice to leave reviews!**


	13. Scent

**Chapter Thirteen – Scent**

* * *

><p>After the last bell rang, Teagan made her way to the parking lot, dropping off her book bag as well as Isaac's. He caught up with her earlier and handed her his bag, wanting her to put it in the car while he ran to the locker room to change before tryouts.<p>

She tossed the bags into the backseat, then slammed the car door shut, jumping back in surprise when it sounded more like a boom of thunder than a car door shutting; making her think back to her dream the night before.

She laid her hand on her chest, her fingers touching the puzzle piece charm, as she lowered her eyebrows in confusion. She still didn't understand what the dream meant, but couldn't shake the feeling that it was something important.

She could hear the other students in the parking lot; the chatter, the laughter and jokes, as different group of friends made their way toward the parking lot.

She rubbed the charm between two of her fingers, as the noise began to die down and the sound of rain began to fill her head again. She felt the urge to scream again, just like before in her dream, but before she could do anything, she heard a horn blow, pulling her from her thoughts.

She turned her head to the side and gasped when she realized she was in the middle of the parking lot. She didn't even realize she had been walking and was seconds away from being hit by a car.

She quickly rushed to the other side of the parking lot, standing on the edge as she watched the car that almost hit her began to drive away and tried to catch her breath. She had no idea what just happened. It was almost like having a hallucination, she had plenty of those before and knew what those were like, but at the same time it felt nothing like a hallucination she had before. Just like when she had the dream, it felt more like a memory; someone elses memory.

Once her heart slowed down, she lifted her head and frowned when she realized the parking lot was basically empty, besides the ones who stayed over cause of the tryouts, which reminded her that she needed to get to the field. She had to cheer on Isaac and help Malia with her homework.

Trying to brush what just happened aside, she turned and made her way toward the field; already seeing a crowd sitting on the bleachers and several players on the field warming up.

Her eyes scanned the players until they landed on Isaac; who shot her a smile when he saw her standing there. He turned his head to look at Scott and Stiles; who he had been in the middle of talking to until he saw her, and told them he would be right back, before he began to jog over toward her.

"There's my girl." Isaac called out happily, as he wrapped an arm around her, swinging her around, before placing her feet back on the ground. He laid a hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, before he leaned forward to softly kiss her lips.

"I was starting to think you weren't going to show." Isaac stated. "I thought you were just dropping our bags off, what took so long?"

"I-I uh... The parking lot was crowded." Teagan said, not wanting to worry him before his tryouts. "You know how it is, once that bell rings everyone rushes to their cars. It's a mad house."

"You sure? I mean, you sure you're okay?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at her closely. With the smile on her face, anyone else would think she was happy and everything was fine, but he knew her better than that. He knew how to read her unlike anyone else. He noticed the little things she did when something was bothering her; like the stiff posture, the way she was playing with her hands, the worry in her eyes and the forced smile on her face.

"I'm fine." Teagan said, as laid her hands on his chest. She flashed him a genuine smile, as she gripped his shirt and added,"I'm here to cheer my man on. Nothing is better than that."

Isaac smiled, whatever was on her mind before seemed to be gone. She was back to her old self, causing him to breathe a sigh of relief. He laid a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her toward him as he kissed her again.

He pulled back a little, breaking the kiss, then grinned against her lips when she began to kiss him. He rested his hands on her hips, letting her set the slow, gentle pace, and fought the urge to pull her closer, but he knew now was not the time to get carried away.

"Mm." He began to say, as she ended the kiss. He smiled at her, as he continued,"Not that I'm complaining, but what was that for?"

"For good luck." Teagan said, as she smiled back.

"Thanks." Isaac said, as he gave her a quick kiss, before adding,"But I don't need luck."

"Oh, you're that confident?" Teagan teased, as she cocked her head to the side with a chuckle.

"No, not confident. I just... Don't get me wrong, I love the game and I want to play, but if I don't make it. It's not the end of the world." He shrugged his shoulders, as he continued,"Regardless of what happens, I got a good life. I'm happy." He laid a hand on the side of her neck, running his thumb over her cheek, as he softly smiled at her, and added,"This is all I need. This is everything."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she raised up on her tip toes to press her lips against his for a sweet kiss. She pulled back to look at him, as she said,"I love you for saying that, but, I really want to see my man out there on that field. It's a very big turn on."

"Really?" Isaac questioned with raised eyebrows. "I thought the suit and tie was a turn on."

"It is, but so is the lacrosse uniform." Teagan stated. She laid her hands on his chest, as she innocently bit her bottom lip, before saying,"You were right before, I do like my man sweaty."

Isaac chuckled at her words, as he cupped her face in his hands, giving her forehead a tender kiss, then moved down to the tip of her nose, before pressing his lips against hers. He rested his forehead against hers, as he quietly said for only her to hear,"Just wait till tonight. We'll both be sweaty by the time I am done with you."

Teagan's mouth dropped open in shock, then began to laugh, as she playfully pushed him away, telling him to get back to the field. He gave her a wink, before he turned and walked back over to Stiles and Scott as the coach blew his whistle, signaling the start of tryouts

**~()~**

"I don't even know what you brought me here for." Lydia admitted as she watched Avery pick the lock on a side door of the house where the family had been murdered late the night before.

As Avery pushed the door open when her jacket sleeve, careful not to leave any finger prints behind she motioned for the redhead to go inside as she said, "You're a banshee Lydia… an entire family was murdered here and I don't know, it just doesn't feel like something random. Maybe you'll sense something."

"I can't just turn this thing on and off." Lydia frowned as Avery closed the door behind them.

"I know, but maybe with some practice you can get a better handle on this or figure things out." Avery offered as she reached down and gave her friend's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Let's do this then." Lydia said as the pair started for the stairs.

After being told about the axe murders, Avery had tracked Lydia down and got her to skip the rest of the school day with her to go check out the house.

"So… an axe murderer?" Lydia questioned as they walked into an upstairs bedroom to see blood everywhere.

"Yeah, some lunatic broke in to the house in the middle of the night and just completely slaughtered the family… all except for a teenage boy who managed to escape out of a window. From what I understand he's barely talking about what happened." Avery filled her friend in as they walked into another room and saw a set of bloody cat footprints on the white carpet.

"The kid's probably in shock." Lydia said, then asked, "Did they kill the family's pet too?"

"No."

Lydia nodded pausing as she looked at a door that had been broken into by an axe. Holding her breath she trailed a finger over the frame and tried to pick up on something.

"Getting anything?" Avery asked.

Lydia glanced over her shoulder to see her friend was right behind her.

"Maybe if you'd stop hovering." The redhead sighed in irritation.

"Fine, suit yourself… I'll be downstairs." She called over her shoulder.

Her high heeled boots clicked against the hardwood floor of the dining room, then on the tan tile of the kitchen floor. The house looked entirely normal, by all accounts the family appeared to be normal; they even had a pet cat.

It made no sense why someone would break in and violently murder the entire family.

Pulling open the refrigerator her eyebrows pushed together as she saw there was absolutely no food in it, or the freezer and a chill ran up her spine as she continued to check the cabinets to find they were all almost empty.

Rubbing her forehead she started back through the dining room and past the front door again on her way to living room while she wondered what the hell this family was eating since they didn't even have a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread in their house.

Just as she got into the living room she heard the door creek open and she froze, knowing that Lydia was still upstairs looking around.

Her hands went to the interior pockets of her jacket where she had some daggers, but soon realized she wouldn't need them when she heard a familiar voice saying, "Beacon County sheriff's department, this is a crime scene… show yourself."

Avery walked towards the front door seeing he was turned and looking into the dining room with his back towards her.

Hearing the clicking of her shoes he spun around and pointed the gun at her.

With a smirk she folded her arms over her chest and arched a brow a she said, "I think that makes the third time you've pointed a gun at me, Jordan."

**~()~**

Teagan stood on the edge of the field, as coach started them out running first. She watched Isaac easily pass by the rest and gain the lead. She was surprised to see Scott toward the middle of the pack, but not all that surprise to see Stiles lagging in the back. But what really surprised her was seeing the new kid, Liam, racing pass everyone and running along beside Isaac. She knew how fast her boyfriend was, they had went jogging together a few times, she could keep up with him when he held back; like he was now, so she knew how fast Liam had to be running to catch up with him.

She titled her head to the side, remembering what Isaac said earlier that day, about how he didn't trust Liam and thought he was keeping a big secret. She caught Scott's eye as he ran by, and nodded her head toward Liam, telling him to keep an eye on him. He nodded his head back, letting her know he understood.

She jumped back in surprise, when Stiles collapsed on the ground in front of her, panting for breath. She softly chuckled, as she stepped onto the field and walked over to him.

"How-How did I do?" Stiles asked in between breaths, as Teagan kneeled down beside him.

"Not... bad." Teagan said slowly, unsure how to answer his question. "You-You did... You were..."

"Pathetic." They heard coach said, as he stopped to stand beside them. He looked down at Stiles, as he shook his head, then added,"Actually unbelievably pathetic, I think are the words you were looking for."

"Thanks, Coach." Stiles said sarcastically, as he held up to thumbs. "You always know how to instill confidence in us."

Coach ignored the comments as he blew his whistle, causing Stiles to jump and Teagan to slapped her hands over her ears, before he walked off to yell at the rest of the players.

"So who came in first?" Stiles questioned, as he looked up at Teagan.

"Isaac." She answered. "Closely followed by..." She began to say, as she glanced off to the side, looking at Liam; who was doing push ups, while some of the others were sitting around resting.

Stiles turned his head, looking in the direction she was, as he scoffed and said,"He isn't human." He took several deep breaths, as he sat up, and continued,"What is he? Like a Were-Cheetah? Does it even exist? Is that a thing?"

As Teagan shrugged her shoulders, Scott walked over to them, leaning down to grab Stiles and helping him up, as he said,"I think he's just good."

"No, I don't buy that. Something is going on with him." Isaac stated, as he joined them. He tossed an arm around Teagan's waist, as he continued,"I don't trust him."

"I don't either." Stiles said, as he nodded his head in agreement, taking Teagan by surprise. She never thought she would see the day that Stiles and her boyfriend agreed on something.

Stiles opened his mouth to say something else, then slapped it shut when he felt sick to his stomach. He laid a hand on his stomach, as he spoke to Scott and said,"I'm gonna puke, take me somewhere."

"Okay, okay, I got you." Scott mumbled, as he led his best friend away.

Teagan softly chuckled as she watched them walk away, then turned her head to look at Isaac; who was staring at her with a smile on his face, causing her to ask him what.

"Your man is a little sweaty right now." He stated, as he raised his eyebrows and shot her a grin. "You turned on yet?"

"Hmm, maybe a little." She teased, as she shrugged her shoulders, trying to pretend that he wasn't effecting her right now.

Isaac laid a hand on her chest, over her heart, then leaned forward to softly kiss the side of her neck. He moved up to her ear, before quietly whispering,"The beat of your heart and your scent says otherwise."

Teagan licked her bottom lip as she smiled up at him, causing his smile to widen. He knew what that look on her face meant. He leaned forward to kiss her, but before their lips could meet they heard coach blow his whistle again, telling Isaac to get his ass on the field.

"Go kick some ass, babe." Teagan said, as she quickly brushed her lips against his. As he turned to walk away, she quickly grabbed his arm, as she clarified,"And by kick ass, I don't mean literally kick ass, I mean-"

"Teagan!" Isaac called out with a laugh, as he held up his hands to stop her. "I know what you mean. I told you, I'm not going to do anything. Just playing lacrosse, that's it."

Teagan nodded her head, accepting his answer, then saw him turn to walk away. He came to a stop when he saw that Liam was looking over at them until Isaac caught him, then he quickly looked away.

She heard Isaac quietly growl, causing her to reach out and grab his hand, intertwining their fingers, as she whispered,"It's you and me."

She saw him instantly relax, then turn his head to look at her, giving her a smile before he brought their joined hands up to his mouth, kissing the back of her hand before he walked away.

As coach rounded up all the players, giving them all a shot to toss balls into the net, Teagan turned away from the field and made her way over toward the bleachers. She smiled when she saw Kira wave her over, and made her way over toward the dark headed girl and Malia; who was sitting beside her with her head down looking at a book.

"Hey, finally! I need your help." Malia stated, as soon as Teagan sat down beside her.

"That's what I'm here for." Teagan said with a smile. "Okay, what are we working on?" She questioned, as she looked down at the text book on Malia's lap.

For the next several minutes, she helped Malia with her homework, until Malia sniffed the air. She raised her head to look at Teagan then turned to the side to look at Kira; who was sitting on the other side of her.

She looked between the two girls, a confused look on her face, as she said,"What's wrong with you two?"

"Me?" Kira questioned, as she pointed to herself. When Malia nodded her head, she continued,"Nothing."

When Malia and Kira turned to look at Teagan, she shrugged, as she said,"What? There's nothing wrong with me either."

Malia shook her head, as she looked back at Kira and said,"You reek of anxiety. And it's distracting." She turned back to look at Teagan, as she sniffed again, making a face, as she added,"And you reek of...of..." Her voice trailed off, as she looked over at the field, seeing Isaac looking over at them with a grin on his face, he knew exactly what scent Teagan was giving off right now and couldn't help but feel a little cocky knowing he was the cause of it.

"What? What does she reek of?" Kira asked when Malia paused.

"Nothing. I reek of nothing, cause nothing is going on." Teagan spoke up.

"Not true." Malia said, as she shook her head. She glanced over at Kira, as she added,"She's lusting over Isaac big time right now." She turned back to look at Teagan as she point blank asked,"Why don't you two just have sex?"

"What?" Teagan breathed out, before she began to stutter,"We-we uh, we haven't... " Finally she let out a slight chuckle, as she stated,"We're not going to talk about this."

Malia glanced over at the field, seeing that Isaac was watching them again and possibly listening in. She turned back to look at Teagan as she said,"Oh, cause he's listening in, right?"

"Wha-No!" Teagan said. She shook her head, as she said,"You can't just ask people about their sex life, Malia. Some people don't like talking about it with others, it's a private thing for them."

"I don't mind talking about it." Malia stated with a shrug. "Stiles has been teaching me some things."

"Ew, no, don't need to hear about that." Teagan said, as she shook her head and made a face.

"I agree with Teagan, we shouldn't talk about this." Kira said.

"All I'm trying to say is, if you and Isaac want to do it, then just do it." Malia stated.

"I'm not the problem." Teagan said, her voice barely above a whisper, but Malia heard it. She glanced at the field, seeing Isaac looking at her, and wondered if he heard her comment too. From the look on his face it appeared like he didn't hear the comment.

"If it helps, his scent is just as strong as yours." Malia pointed out.

Teagan flashed her a small smile, then cleared her throat, as she looked down at her lap, avoiding Isaac; who she knew was staring at her again. She thought back to the night before and that morning when Isaac put the brakes on their make out session. He said there were other reasons for it; the night before it was cause she was getting too loud and that morning cause of lacrosse practice, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it than that. Either way the sting of rejection was hitting her full force.

She kept her eyes down, avoiding looking at the field, as she heard Malia and Kira talking, as Kira told Malia what was bothering her. She snapped her head up when she heard the coach call out Isaac's name, telling him he was next. She smiled when she saw Isaac tossing a ball toward the goal, the goalie unable to stop it, as it went inside the net. She pushed all her other thoughts aside, she wasn't there to sulk, she was there to cheer him on.

She yelled out his name, then clapped as loud as she could, as she smiled at him. He threw his arms out to celebrate, as a cocky grin appeared on his face. He flashed her a wink as he made his way toward the end of the line, so the next person could take their turn.

Some of them; like Isaac and Liam were good, while others like; Scott and Stiles were not so good, but once all the players had a chance of tossing the ball a few times, coach blew his whistle, rounding them all up. He told Isaac to go in the goal, and told Scott and Stiles they were covering goal for two-on-ones.

When she saw the three boys huddling together talking, she leaned toward Malia, asking what they were talking about. Malia tried to block out all the noise around her, the way she was taught, then said,"They're talking about Liam. Something about catching a scent."

"A scent for what?" Kira asked confused.

"Oh no." Teagan mumbled, as she watched them slapped each other on the helmet before they got into position. She had a pretty good idea of what they were going to try to do and she had a very bad feeling about it.

"Oh no what?" Kira asked, feeling even more confused.

"They think Liam could be a werewolf or something." Teagan explained. "If he is and if Scott or Isaac can get close enough to him, they could catch a scent. They would be able to tell."

"And that's a bad thing?" Kira asked.

"It can be. When those three are involved with a plan, it can turn out very badly." Teagan stated, as she rested her elbows on her knees and nervously watched the field hoping no one will get hurt.

The three girls watched as Stiles and Scott were able to stop the few first players who charged down the field, trying to score. The more players they stopped, the more confident they were, but when Liam ran down the field, they weren't so lucky.

He dodged pass Stiles first, then spun pass Scott and tossed the ball toward the goal, the ball sailing pass Isaac and falling into the net. Teagan sigh when she saw Isaac slap his stick on either side of the goal in frustration. He was pissed that the newbie was able to score on him.

She softly said his name, getting his attention and flashing him a smile, as she whispered,"it's okay. You can do it."

He nodded his head and blew out a breath, knowing he needed to calm down, and after hearing her words and knowing she believed in him, that is exactly what he was able to do.

Teagan turned her head in surprise when Malia suddenly jumped up and yelled out,"That was luck!"

"Malia!" Teagan hissed, as she tried to pull her down, but she shrugged his off, as she continued,"Do-over!"

"Sweetheart, there's no do-overs. This is a practice." Coach said with a chuckle, as he turned to look at them.

"Ten bucks on Scott and Stiles." Malia shouted.

Kira looked over at Teagan with wide eyes, wondering what they should do. Teagan shrugged, figuring if you can't beat em, join em.

With that thought in mind, she quickly stood up, as she called out,"And I got twenty on Isaac." She had no doubt in her mind, this time if Liam got pass Stiles and Scott again, that Isaac would be able to catch it before he was able to score.

Isaac grinned as he looked over at her, seeing how much she believed in him. He crouched down, getting into position, as coach spoke up.

"I'll take that action. Get back in there, Liam."

Teagan and Malia turned their heads to look at each other, a smile on both of their faces, before they both looked back at the field, seeing Liam racing down, heading for Scott and Stiles. He spun around Stiles, then headed for Scott, who dropped his shoulders and lifted the boy in the air. Everyone fell silent as Liam crashed to the ground hard and began to cry out in pain.

"Holy shit." Teagan breathed out, as she jumped up from the bleachers and raced on to the field, coming to a stop beside Scott and Stiles. She felt Isaac come up behind her, resting a hand on her shoulder, as they all looked down at Liam. This was exactly what she was afraid would happen.

She shook her head, disappointed in herself for even going along with the bet earlier. She should had tried hard to stop Malia, instead of joining in. Now someone was hurt and they were all to blame.

Coach ran over to them, telling them not to touch Liam; who tried to tell everyone he was okay and tried to stand up. When he almost fell back down in pain, Scott and Stiles stepped up to hold him up.

Liam panted in pain, as he said,"I think it's my leg."

"I think we better get him to the nurse." Stiles suggested.

As coach gestured for them to go, Teagan and Isaac followed along behind Scott and Stiles, as they dragged Liam off the field and toward the locker rooms. They carefully sat him down, then Stiles announced he was going to go find the nurse.

While he was gone, Teagan kneeled down in front of Liam, then reached out to pull his pant leg up to get a better look at his leg. He tried to pull his leg away from her, then groaned out in pain, as he called out,"What are you doing?"

"My mom was a nurse. She taught me a few things, so I thought I would take a look." Teagan explained. She mostly wanted to see if it was healing already, which was suggest that he was something supernatural. "Just trust me." She softly said, as she caught his eyes.

When he nodded his head, she glanced down at his leg, lightly touching his skin, then quickly apologized when he hissed out in pain. After checking over it, she lowered his pant leg back down, then looked up to give him a small smile, as she stood up.

"So?" Liam questioned, as he looked up at her standing in front of him.

"Honestly?" Teagan said, then continued when he nodded his head,"It doesn't look good. I'm sorry."

As he lowered his head in disappointment, she grabbed Isaac and Scott's arm, pulling them away for privacy. When both boys look at her, she quietly said,"I think it's broken and it's not healing, which means..."

"He's not a werewolf." Scott finished for her.

"So what is he then?" Isaac questioned.

"He's a kid." Teagan said. She glanced over at him, feeling sorry for him, as she softly added,"He's just a kid."

**~()~**

With a sigh of relief Deputy Parrish lowered the gun and gave her a confused look as he asked, "What are you doing here?"

Watching as he tucked the gun back in its holster Avery stated, "A family was murdered here."

"Yeah…" He nodded, "That's why I'm here, why are you here?"

Her phone went off from her pocket and she looked to see it was a text from Lydia asking if it was safe to come downstairs, with a small laugh she let her know everything was okay and she could come down to the first floor.

"We're just trying to help." Avery admitted, knowing it wasn't like she could say that she'd brought a banshee to the crime scene to see what she could pick up.

"We?" He asked, but his question was answered as Lydia walked down the stairs.

The redhead looked at Deputy Parrish and then stepped next to her best friend as she asked Avery, "Why is it every time you convince me to go somewhere with you, we get in trouble with the police?"

The blonde shot her friend a look from the corner of her eye and then smiled innocently as the deputy.

Lydia looked between them before her own attention was drawn towards the living room. She didn't see or hear anything from there but she felt a force pulling her that way.

She'd been in there for a few minutes looking around the seemingly normal living room before the other two joined her.

"What's going on?" Avery asked her friend.

"I-I don't know… it just feels like something is here." Lydia admitted quietly.

"Something, like what?" Deputy Parrish asked her causing both girls to stare at each other wide eyed and he knew they were hiding something.

"I can't really explain it, I'd try to… but I've never gotten a satisfactory answer myself." Lydia suavely said as she turned away from him and looked out of the window on the suburban street.

Looking between the teenagers he asked, "Just an unusual habit of showing up at places where people have brutally murdered?"

Turning around Lydia cocked her head to the side and asked, "Are you saying I have a reputation."

Avery bit down on the inside of her cheek and held back a laugh.

"An unusual one." He nodded.

His attention went to Avery as his brows furrowed and he pointed out, "Actually you both do… and your other friends too. You're always somehow right in the middle of every strange thing that's happening in Beacon Hills."

The girls looked at each other at a loss for what to say next, but soon Lydia's attention was pulled away as she looked around the room again before sighing, "We can't really give you a reason for why we're here, or what's going on."

"Maybe you're psychic." The deputy said to her.

Avery looked at him surprised as she asked, "You really believe in that sort of thing?"

His attention was fully focused on the blonde as he shrugged, "I'd like to say I don't believe in anything but I keep an open mind."

She nodded, and he saw her expression fall he took a step closer before glancing over his shoulder to see Lydia staring at some wood paneling on the wall as he quietly asked, "What's wrong?"

Raising her head she managed a smile as she said, "Nothing…"

He started to say something else but she walked past him as she said, "Come on, Lydia. I'll take you back to school to get your car… there doesn't seem to be anything here."

The teenager didn't answer but Parrish spoke up as he said, "If you're looking for dead bodies, I think you're a little late."

Lydia's couldn't look away from the markings in the wood on the wall paneling, at first glance they looked like normal marbling of the wood but upon closer inspection the marbling seemed to be taking the shape of faces; with opened mouths and dark eyes.

"A…" Lydia breathed out, her voice barely over a whisper as she took a staggering step back.

Avery rushed to her friend's side as Lydia continued to stare at the faces in the wood with wide, terror ridden eyes.

"What?" Parrish asked walking closer to the girls but neither of them responded.

Avery ran her fingers over the wood then glanced at Lydia who swallowed hard and nodded. Taking a deep breathing, Avery ignored the deputy as he asked again what was going on –she raised her fist and knocked on the wood.

The girls exchanged looks as the knocking was met by a hollow sound; there was something behind the paneling.

"A false wall?" Parrish guessed out loud as he watched Avery continue to stare at it before she placed both hands firmly against the paneling and pushed in on it.

In response to her touch the disguised door opened and cold frost poured out of the space behind the wall.

Avery reached inside her jacket pocket, keeping one hand on the dagger just in case something jumped out at them and Lydia looked back to the Deputy Parrish with wide eyes as he drew his gun and flashlight from his belt.

When he looked back up he saw Avery was pulling the door the rest of the way open, rushing forward he placed a hand on her shoulder and nodded for her to stay back before adjusting the flashlight and gun in his hand and stepping inside.

Both girls followed him to see a hallway with metal insulated walls to keep in the coldness, it was like one large freezer.

Lydia crossed her arms and her teeth chattered as she tried to avoid several large cobwebs dangling from the walls.

Avery sped up until she started to walk in front of the deputy, curious as to what the family was hiding in their house. But before she could take another step, he laid an arm out in front of her and shook his head back forth.

Rolling her eyes she motioned for him to go on, but they'd barely taken five more steps before he had to stop her from walking in front of him again.

"Oh my god!" She whispered at him as she rolled her eyes.

"Stay behind me." He whisper yelled back at her.

"I'll just stay safety back here while you two fight over who's going to die first." Lydia hissed at the both of them as she shivered from the frigid temperature. She'd realized the deputy and her best friend were too preoccupied by one another that if something had snuck up on them they'd both have been dead.

"Stay back there with her." He instructed the blonde.

She sighed and motioned for him to keep going as she shot Lydia a look.

Just as they neared an open doorway, Avery rushed forward again. She wasn't used to having to walk behind someone else in a situation like that normally she was the one at the front of the group ready for whatever was coming their way.

"Avery!" Parrish exclaimed in a hushed tone as he stepped sideways trying to block her from entering the pitch black room.

"Why do I have to stay in the back?" She questioned.

"Because I'm the one with the weapon and the flashlight." He argued with her, not understanding why she wouldn't just stay back until the figured out what this place was and what the family was hiding.

As he looked back to make sure Lydia was still okay and staying with the group, Avery pulled her cellphone out and snuck past him into the room using the flashlight option to illuminate the walls until she found a metal cased light switch.

As she turned the lights on her eyes widened as she saw racks with hooks hanging from the ceiling and a few dozen body bags hanging from the hooks.

"Avery!" Deputy Parrish said as he rushed into the room after noticing she was gone.

"I'm fine." She assured him, then turned back around to face the large bags.

Lydia entered the room last to find them both staring at the bags trying to figure out what was going on.

"What is this place?" She stammered out, as she remembered the twisted faces she'd seen in the wood marbling.

"I think it's a game locker." The deputy explained, "Like venison, hunting is legal in some parts of the state…"

Putting her phone back in her pocket, Avery rubbed her frozen hands together before stepping up to the nearest bag and starting to unzip it as Parrish stepped up beside her both of them shocked to see the bag contained the frozen corpse of a woman.

"What is it?" Lydia asked them, not able to see past them to the now open bag.

"It's not venison." Parrish said as he looked over to Avery and then back to Lydia wondering how the teenagers had managed to find at least a dozen dead bodies in the same house the police had searched top to bottom earlier in the day and found nothing out of the ordinary in.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN – Thanks so much for reading! We both hope you're having a great holiday season! ^_^**

**Thanks to: SmellYourScentForMiles, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, xxxRena, and guest for reviewing chapter 12!**


	14. A Liam Sized Problem

**Chapter Fourteen – A Liam Sized Problem**

* * *

><p>After watching Liam being driven away from the school and being taken to the hospital to be checked out, Teagan and Isaac left school and headed for her house. Scott and Stiles said they were heading for the hospital later and would call them with an update on Liam.<p>

All of them felt bad for Liam, but Scott and Teagan were feeling the worst. Scott knew if he hadn't been so worried about his captain status none of that would have happened, and Teagan felt like she should have done more to stop it from happening.

She had a feeling something bad would happen and instead of trying to stop it, she brushed the feeling aside and allowed her self to cut loose and have fun. She couldn't help but think lately whenever she pushed things aside and just tried to live in the moment, something always went wrong.

On her birthday, she got drunk and decided to forget everything; then Avery and the others were attacked by oni. Not long after Allison's death she and Isaac hid away in their safety bubble, trying to heal and be together; during that time Avery had a break down and tried to commit suicide . While out of town in Long Beach, she pushed everything aside and just enjoyed her time with Isaac; not long after that they had a pregnancy scare the list went on and on.

Now, she sided with Malia, making a stupid bet with coach and an innocent kid got hurt; as well as all the other terrible things going on since arriving home. She just hoped nothing else happened, she wasn't sure how much more they all could take.

After parking the car in the driveway, she and Isaac grabbed their bags, then exited the car and made their way toward the front door. She walked inside, being greeted by Aspen, giving him a pet on top of the head until she heard her father, Paul, call out a happy greeting to the couple.

She snapped her head over toward the stairs as he walked down them dressed in a suit and tie for work. He smiled at the teens, giving Teagan a kiss on the side of the head, after he stepped off the stairs.

"Hey, so?" He questioned, as he held out his arms. He glanced over at Isaac, as he added, "How were tryouts?"

"Not bad." Isaac answered.

"A kid got hurt. We think it's a broken leg." Teagan added.

"That's unfortunate. Maybe it's not as bad as you think, but either way I hope he's better soon." Paul said. "I remember I hurt my knee one time during a game. Thought I would never play again, but it got better." He added, remembering back when he played football in high school. He reached down to rub his knee, as he added, "Of course now sometimes the pain comes back and I can barely move, but other times, it's like nothing ever happened."

"I've uh, I've broken a few bones before, I know what you mean." Isaac spoke up, causing Teagan's face to fall. She knew he was thinking of the times his dad hurt him. Of course now, he could heal right away and felt no pain.

"I remember the time you fell off the jungle gym at school." Paul began to say, as he nodded over at his daughter. "When they wheeled you into the hospital your mother about had a heart attack. She called me up crying saying they brought you in and they were worried you had broken your neck, but thankfully nothing was broken and you were okay."

When Teagan heard Isaac softly chuckle, she turned her head to look at him, asking him what he was laughing about. He looked down at her with a smile, before saying, "I actually remember that."

"You do?" Teagan asked surprised. "I barely remember that happening."

"Yeah, I remember seeing you sitting up there with Avery. I think you two were singing something and slapping each others hands, then I saw you lean back for a moment and you lost your balance and fell." He began to say. "I remember being so worried about you so I ran over there to see if I could help. Avery was scared out of her mind, but I could tell she was trying to be brave and she was holding your hand, telling you everything would be okay. When she saw me standing there, she told me to hold your hand while she ran to get help. She told me not to let you go, and I promised her I wouldn't." He reached out to grab her hand, giving it a small squeeze, as he whispered for only her to hear, "And I never will."

Teagan softly smiled at him as she said, "I don't remember that." She looked over at her dad, as she asked, "Why don't I remember that?"

Paul shrugged as he said, "The doctors said you were in and out of it after you fell. Maybe you were passed out then."

"Maybe." Teagan said. "I remember falling and landing on the ground. And I remember feeling someone hold my hand and feeling a sense of calm." She looked over at Isaac a smile on her face as she added, "Now I know why."

Isaac smiled back, as he pulled her toward him and kissed the side of her head. He had forgotten all about that until her father brought it up, but now he realized even back then he was her calm in the middle of a storm. He was happy to know he was able to help her back then just like he does now.

Paul smiled at the couple in front of him, some fathers might warn their daughters about getting too serious too young, but he could already tell what they had was more than some high school romance.

The two looked at each other the way he use to look at his wife, Lisa. He knew from an early age he was in love with his late wife and would marry her one day. He was the type that believed that love didn't have an age limit. When you find love, you know it. It doesn't matter if you are five or fifty when it happens, you know when it is real and true; and from looking at his daughter and Isaac, he knew what they have was real and that is all he ever wanted for her.

"Well, I need to head for work. I left some money in the kitchen in case you two wanted to order some dinner." He said, as he grabbed his briefcase and began to walk toward the door. He opened the door, then turned around to face them, pointing toward Isaac, as he said,"Let me know if you make the team and give me a schedule for the games. I'll try to make it to one."

"Really?" Isaac asked with a smile. His own father never came to watch him play.

"Yeah, of course." Paul said, smiling back. "I'll admit I know nothing about lacrosse, I'm a football fan, but Teagan says you're great out there and we'll love to cheer you on." He looked over at his daughter, as he added, "Right, Sweet Tea?"

"Absolutely." Teagan said smiling, happy that her father wanted to support Isaac as much as she did.

"Y-Yeah, I'll let you know." Isaac said, as he continued to smile at her father.

Paul gave them a nod, telling them bye, as he walked out the door, shutting it behind him. Once they were alone, Teagan turned her head to look at Isaac, seeing how happy he looked, which made her smile in return.

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, she heard her cell phone go off. She pulled the phone out of her purse, seeing she had a text from Scott; letting her know he was at the hospital, but so far no word on Liam. She quickly texted him back, then sat her stuff down by the front door, before walking into the living room, her good mood from earlier slipping away.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Isaac asked, seeing her mood change. He followed her into the living room to see her lie down on the couch. He sat down at her feet, laying her legs across his lap.

"Scott texted me." She answered, then told him what the text said. She sighed as she ran a hand through her hair, before saying, "I guarantee you his leg is broken."

"Even if it is, it's not your fault. It's not Scott's fault. It's no one's fault. It was an accident." Isaac pointed out, as he began to run his hands over her legs, massaging them and hoping to help her relax.

"Yeah, but even so, it could have been prevented." She stated, as she placed her hands across her stomach. She was quiet for a moment, deep in thought, before softly saying, "Sometimes I think we shouldn't have left Long Beach."

Isaac nodded his head, as he ran his hand up further, lightly caressing her knee with his thumb while his other fingers lightly brushed against the bottom of her skirt. "You know, right about now, we could be walking down the street from the hotel and going to that Chinese place. The buffet place."

"Oh God, their honey chicken was the best." Teagan said as she closed her eyes remembering how good the restaurant was. It was a small place, tucked away and hard to see unless you were looking for it, or like them just happen to stumble upon it, but it had some of the best Chinese she had ever eaten.

"I honestly thought they were going to ask us to leave. I swear you about ate everything." Isaac teased, as he looked over at her.

"I did not!" Teagan said back with a laugh, as she playfully kicked him in the stomach.

"Yes, you did." Isaac argued, as he sat up then moved up the couch, stretching out to hover above her. He laid his hands on the couch on either side of her head, holding himself up, as he looked down at her and said, "But it was kind of sexy."

"Me shoving food in my mouth was sexy?" Teagan questioned with a laugh.

"Everything you do is sexy." Isaac softly said as he lowered himself toward her, pressing his lips against hers for a gentle kiss.

After a few more kisses, he pulled back, brushing some hair out of her face as he said, "You know, after all this talk about Chinese, I'm kinda hungry now for some." He paused for a minute, smiling as he added, "I mean what better way to recreate Long Beach, then eating a lot of Chinese followed by several hours of sex. I can't even count the times we did that."

As Teagan chuckled at his comment, he added, "Now I know we were supposed to do waffles, but what do you think? Waffles or Chinese?"

"Either one is fine. Honestly, I'm not really that hungry now. My stomach is a little blah right now." Teagan answered. Everything that happened that day; the nightmare from before, the rejections from Isaac, as well as Liam's accident was weighing heavily on her mind at the moment.

At her words, a look of panic come over his face, as he pulled away from her and sat back down at the end of the couch. He glanced down at her stomach for a moment, his mouth going dry, as he asked, "What's uh, What's wrong? You're not sick, right? I mean, you don't feel like you're going to be sick, like-like some kind of sickness? Mor-Morning sickness?"

Teagan lowered her eyebrows as she shot him a look. She sat up on the couch with a sigh, as she shook her head, and said, "No, Isaac. I'm not pregnant, remember? You were there at the doctors with me."

"I-I know, but I-"

Before he could finish his sentence, she stood up from the couch, heading for the stairs, causing him to shoot up from the couch, as he asked her where she was going.

"To take a shower." Teagan answered. When she saw him open his mouth, she added, "Alone.

**~()~**

Avery flung the door open to the roof of the hospital and stumbled out to where she saw Scott trying to talk to a younger student she didn't recognize who was cowering away from him while clutching onto his badly bleeding arm.

As she rushed over to them she saw the dead body of another teenage boy who she assumed was the last remaining member of the family who'd been axe murdered the night before.

"Finally!" Scott exclaimed as he saw Avery.

Scott had called her not long after biting Liam to save his life; as his emissary it made sense to call her first, plus he wasn't sure how anyone else could help at this point.

Scott quickly filled her in about how this guy with no mouth had killed the other teenager, Sean. And that the teenager had called himself a wendigo.

"I know what he is." She nodded looking to the corpse then shrugged, "I mean was."

"How?" Scott asked.

"Their house had no food at all… then we found a game locker full of human bodies. My first guess was they were a family of wendigo's… shape-shifting cannibals." She quickly filled him in.

"What?" Liam gasped as he tried even harder to back into the cement beam behind him.

"You really bit him?" Avery asked.

"I had to." Scott defended with an apologetic look.

Then the alpha sighed, "He's kind of terrified of me right now… I tried to tell him we need to go before someone finds us but…"

"I'm not going anywhere with you! I just want to go home!" Liam angrily yelled at Scott.

Taking a deep breath Avery slowly walked towards the scared freshman who scooted back but she held her hands up in surrender and said, "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you… I don't have claws or fangs."

He looked at her wide eyes then glanced over to Scott with a horrified look.

"What's your name?" She asked edging closer.

"Liam." He admitted, watching her as she got even closer.

"Okay, Liam… I know you're scared right now, but we have to get off of this roof for a number of reasons. You're going to come with us, okay?" She tried to speak in a calming voice as she leaned down in front of him and offered a smile.

Scott watched them surprised at how Avery seemed to be handling the situation he thought for sure she'd been panicking or mad at him.

"I just want to go home." Liam argued, but seemed calmer than he had been before.

Flashing him a smile she leaned forward some and waited until his gaze fell to the top of her low cut dress before she smirked to herself and said, "Liam?"

His eyes snapped up to hers and she said, "My car is in the parking lot downstairs… I'll take you home."

Standing up she extended a hand knowing she was getting the freshman under her spell.

As Liam grabbed her hand with his good arm she helped him up to his feet and Scott cut in, "Wait… we can't just send him home, not yet we need to talk to him about… you know."

"No we don't." Avery asserted as she saw Liam starting to back away from them again.

Looking over at Scott she snapped, "We're taking him home, he's been through enough."

Scott slowly nodded, not sure what was wrong with Avery's thought process here. But he hoped she had some kind of plan because he had no clue what to do next.

"Come on, Liam." She offered with a friendly smile as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders and started to lead him to the roof exit. But just as the pair neared the door, Scott looked up to see Avery grab the back of Liam's head and slam it against the metal door frame –knocking the freshman unconscious.

"Why did you do that? I thought you were taking him home!" Scott yelled as he ran over and looked down to Liam's body on the cement roof.

"No!" Avery shouted back at him, "Taking him home was never the plan, but he was terrified of you and we need to get him out of here! Now grab him and let's go."

Scott's brain raced to catch up with her as he picked up the freshman's body and slung him over a shoulder. After taking empty halls and barely used service elevators they finally managed to make it out of an exit near her car.

"What are we doing with him now?" Scott asked, as Avery unlocked her car.

"I think we need to drive him out in the middle of nowhere, dump his body and hope the bite kills him instead of turning him." She admitted, knowing it sounded bad but the last thing they needed was a brand new beta ruining things for their pack.

"We're not doing that!" Scott yelled as he put Liam in the backseat of the car and shut the door behind him.

"Then what do you suggest we do, Scott?" She asked, her hands on her hips in frustration at him.

Opening the passenger door he said, "Let's just get him to my house, we'll figure the rest out when we get there."

**~()~**

"What now?" Avery asked as she looked down to where Scott had dropped Liam's body on his bed.

"I don't know!" Scott yelled, in a state of panic as he started to pace the floor at the foot of his bed.

"You heard Araya –if you take the bite of an innocent she's crossing our border and she's coming after you, Scott!" Avery reminded him.

"I know, I remember the conversation." He breathed rubbing his hands over his face.

Avery shook her head, "This is really inconvenient, Scott! We have enough to worry about… we don't need some baby beta running around screwing things up for all of us. He can out the entire pack… every single one of us."

Scott gave her a look to let her know he was already freaking out about those facts and her stressing him wasn't helping anything.

"We're just going to have to kill him." Avery reasoned.

"Kill him? What happened to just leaving him out in the middle of nowhere?" He shot back at her.

"That could still be an option…" Her voice trailed off as she saw Liam was now sitting up staring at the both of them wide eyed.

Hoping he hadn't heard much of the conversation and remembering how a little flirting with the younger teen had easily gotten him to go along with her plans before she flashed him a wide smile and said, "Hey handsome… you're awake."

His eyes bugged and he scrambled off the bed back away from her and she realized he must have heard her talking about killing him.

"Liam, it's okay." She said, walking closer to where he was standing.

"S-stay away from me!" He shouted.

But before he could say much else she saw him reaching for his pocket where his cellphone was and she tackled him, knocking them both to the ground before quickly using her hunter skills and pinning him down as she yelled out for Scott to get something to tie him up with.

A few moments later she looked over her shoulder to Scott grabbing a roll of silver duct tape off his dresser that he'd been using to try and fix some things around his room with.

"Are you kidding me?" She asked.

"It's all I've got!" Scott defended.

The friends worked together on tying the freshman up with duct tape, ignoring his pleas for them to let him go and then the angry threats he started firing out when they wouldn't stop.

Finally Avery and Scott stood up to survey their work. Liam was laying on the floor, bound with duct tape from his knees to his ankles, a few strips of tape across his upper legs and then they'd used almost all of what was left to bind his arms across his upper body.

Liam flopped around helpless on the floor, unable to break the restraints no matter how hard he tried. Finally he took a deep breath and screamed, "Help! Someone help me!"

"Liam! Liam, shhh." Scott tried to soothe but Avery grabbed what was left of the duct tape and slapped a piece over his mouth muffling his screams.

"That works too." Scott nodded before taking a deep breathing and rubbing his hands over his face still trying to come to terms with what was happening.

After Scott moved Liam into the bathroom and placed him in the empty bathtub Avery suggested, "We could drown him…"

Liam's eyes widened and he squirmed around frantically.

"We're not hurting or killing him!" Scott asserted as he reached up and pulled the shower curtain closed.

"Fine, then we're going to need some help here… he's terrified of you because you bit him." Avery pointed out as she started to take her phone out of her pocket.

"And he's terrified of you because you keep suggesting we kill him." Scott countered, as he got his own phone and they each called their best friends.

**~()~**

After stepping out of the shower, Teagan wrapped a towel around herself then walked over to the sink, glancing up to look in the mirror. She softly sighed, as she reached up to scrunch her hair. She knew she had upset Isaac earlier when she stated she was showering alone. She saw the disappointed look on his face before she left the room, but she couldn't stand to see that look of fear in his eyes. That look that was worried she was pregnant.

She didn't want him freaking out every time she made a comment about not being hungry or feeling sick. She didn't want him to fear the thought of having a baby together. She wasn't ready for that now either, but once she was, she didn't want him to be terrified and against the idea. She didn't want him pulling away from her now because he was worried of a scare happening again.

She turned away from the mirror, drying herself off then slipping on some lounge clothes. A pair of short pajama shorts and a thin bralette. She reached out, her hand laying on the shirt she laid out to wear, one of Isaac's shirts.

She gripped the shirt, bringing it toward her face and took a deep breath, still catching a faint whiff of his scent and feeling tears fill her eyes.

There was a time she thought they were on the same page, that they wanted the same things. She had no doubt that they would be together forever, but now, she wasn't sure about anything anymore. But no matter what happened she knew was she loved him and she didn't want to lose him.

She slipped his shirt on over her head, then walked over to the door to walk into her bedroom. She paused in the doorway, when she saw Isaac sitting on the edge of her bed waiting for her.

While she was showering, he had his own shower and was dressed in lounge pants and a t-shirt, his head still wet. He looked up when she appeared in the room, he lifted his hand, showing her-her cell phone, as he said, "Scott texted again. Still no official word on Liam. They're going to x-ray his leg."

Teagan nodded her head as she walked further into the room. She went over to him, taking the phone from his hand, planning to place it on the bedside table, but before she could step away from him, he reached out to grab her hand to stop her.

"Wait." He whispered. He looked up at her, as he softly said, "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize." Teagan said back as she shook her head.

"Yeah, I do." Isaac said. He pulled her toward him, as he whispered, "Come here."

She sat up on the bed, her knees on either side of him, then sat down in his lap. Once she was comfortable, he laid his hands on her sides, looking up at her as he said again, "I'm sorry, Teagan."

"Isaac, you don't-you don't have to do any of this."

"I don't have to do what?" Isaac asked confused, as he looked up at her.

"You don't have to..." She began to say, as she shook her head. She paused for a moment, looking down at her hands, as she nervously cleared her throat, before quietly adding, "You don't have to apologize... you don't have to prove anything."

"Whoa, what do you mean prove anything?" Isaac questioned, feeling even more confused. He lightly grabbed her chin, forcing her to raise her head and look at him. "What are you talking about?"

Teagan blew out a breath, then ran a hand through her hair, as she said, "I'm not stupid, Isaac. You've been pulling away from me. The whole scare freaked you out, and it is still freaking you out. I saw your face earlier." She blew out a breath, trying to get better control of her emotions as she continued, "I make one little mention that my stomach isn't well and you assume I'm pregnant. Then this look of panic crosses your face, I saw it, Isaac."

She glanced back down, not wanting to see that scared look on his face anymore; that look killed her. "You keep pulling away and I'm not going to lie, that hurts. And I know you feel guilty for that, so you're going out of your way, trying to prove how much you do love me and you don't have to do that, Isaac. You-"

Before she could finished her sentence he grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him, as he leaned forward to softly kiss her lips. He nibbled on her bottom lip, before saying, "I love you. I love you so damn much, and you have no idea how badly I want you. How much I always want you."

He pulled back to look at her, as he caressed her cheek, "You are always my first and last thought every day, Teagan. You are the only thing I want, the only thing I need in this world and if there is ever a moment that you don't believe that, then I'm not doing a good enough job of showing it."

"I'm sorry for hurting you, for pulling away. I never want you to doubt how much I love you, how much I want you." Isaac softly said, as he laid his hand on the side of her neck. "I've told you before when I started liking you, the day of the valentine day card, but I've always noticed you. It's hard not to notice you." He added with a smile. "That day you fell and I held your hand, I felt something, but I brushed it aside because I knew it couldn't have meant anything. We were just kids and even then, you were completely out of my league. But then the card happened, and I saw exactly the type of person you are, I saw your heart and I didn't just get a crush on you, Teagan, I fell in love with you in that moment and I've never stopped."

"I never really realized that then, because we were still just kids, and I thought we were too young for me to feel that strongly for you, but now I realize it was real, even back then. Loving you is all I know how to do and it's what I'll always do." He said, as he leaned forward to press his lips against her for a gentle kiss. "I love you, Teagan. I always love you."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she pressed her lips against his for another kiss. She felt him reach down, gripping the bottom of the shirt she was wearing, she pulled back for a moment, raising her arms, so he could remove the shirt.

He dropped it on the bed beside them, then laid his hands on her butt, holding her as he stood up from the bed, then turned around to carefully lay her onto of the bed. He reached back to grab his shirt, pulling it over his head before leaning forward to press his lips against hers for a heated kiss. He kissed down her chin, then the front of her neck, making his way down her chest and to her bare stomach, leaving light kisses wherever his lips touch.

Once he made it to her stomach, he paused for a moment, making her worry that he was going to pull away again. She was worried the pregnancy scare had crossed his mind again, but instead he leaned forward, pressing his lips against her skin, kissing further down her stomach and over to the butterfly tattoo on her hip.

She ran her fingers through his hair, as she arched her back and let out a soft moan. Isaac grinned against her skin, hearing her breathing pick up, as he continued to kiss and touch wherever there was bare skin.

He ran his hands down her sides, laying them on her hips. He gripped the fabric of the shorts she was wearing, but before he could pull them down, they heard her cell phone begin to ring. Teagan threw her head back with a groan, as Isaac stood up and grabbed the phone from the bed where Teagan dropped it earlier.

He groaned out when he saw it was Avery, then quickly answered the call.

"You have really bad timing, Dukate." Isaac said, with the phone pressed against his ear.

Teagan softly chuckled, as she reached out to grab the shirt she had on earlier. She slipped the shirt back on, then held out her hand, expecting Isaac to pass the phone over to her, but when she saw the worried look on his face, she asked him what was wrong.

"We got to get to Scott's." Isaac said, as he ended the call.

"What's wrong?" Teagan asked again.

"Well good news, Liam's broken leg is the least of our worries." Isaac began to say.

"Oh God, what happened now?"

"Scott bit him."

Teagan felt her eyes widen as her mouth dropped open. Just when she thought things couldn't get worse, they did.

**~()~**

Stiles was the first to arrive at Scott's as they led him into the bathroom.

"Where's Liam, you barely told me anything over the phone?" Stiles asked Scott.

The alpha looked to Avery who pulled the shower curtain open revealing the duct tape bound teen.

Stiles looked between Avery and Scott then sighed in disbelief at the two of them. Hoping that Stiles was there to help him, Liam started to thrash around and try to talk against the duct tape covering his mouth.

Stiles reached up and pulled the curtain shut on him, before walking out into his best friends rooms where he and Scott sat down on the foot of the bed while Avery slowly paced back and forth in front of them.

"So you bit him?" Stiles said.

"Yeah." Scott admitted.

"Then you kidnapped him?" Stiles continued to question them.

"That was more her than me…" Scott said pointing to Avery who said, "We didn't have a choice."

"Then you both brought him here." Stiles stated as shook his head, not sure how any of that remotely sounded like a good idea to Scott or Avery.

"I panicked." Scott quietly said.

Stiles pursed his lips together and made a noise before he asked them, "This isn't going to end with us burying the pieces of his body out in the desert, is it?"

"Apparently if it was up to Avery, yeah."

Avery shot Scott a look and said, "I was kidding… mostly, okay? But seriously… my job is protect and help the pack and it makes my job infinitely harder to do that when you get reckless and do something that is going to send a family of South American hunters after all of our asses, Scott. So yes, I suggested killing him for the greater good of the pack, your pack."

Scott looked down to his hands in his lap, and Stiles' attention was drawn to the bathroom where Liam was making even more noise now at hearing about Avery wanting to kill him again.

"As a reminder." Stiles said as he waved a finger at both of his friends, "This is why I always come up with the plans. Your plans suck."

"I know, this is why I called you." Scott pointed out.

"And Avery called us." Isaac announced his and Teagan's entrance to the room.

"Actually, I called Teagan… not you Isaac. If you needed a good plan you'd come to me for advice." Avery said shooting a smile before nodding at Teagan in thanks of them showing up.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Isaac joked back with her.

"So what's going on?" Teagan asked.

Scott and Avery quickly filled their friends in on what was happening and Isaac laughed while Teagan gasped, "So you kidnapped him? You guys, he's probably terrified!"

"Here's the plan." Stiles said as he stood from the bed.

"I'm going to get a chair from the kitchen, we're going to bring him out here and talk to him. He needs to understand that no one can know what happened." Stiles reasoned, hoping the teenager would actually listen to them.

"What if he doesn't cooperate? Do we have anything to threaten him with?" Isaac nonchalantly asked the group, causing Teagan to hit his arm and say, "That's not funny."

"Yeah. Avery." Stiles said pointing to the blonde, "Everyone is terrified of her… if he doesn't listen he has to deal with her."

"Oh my god." Teagan breathed out as she stared up to the ceiling in disbelief as to how the night had turned out.

As Stiles headed downstairs Teagan offered, "Or maybe we can just explain how if he tells anyone he's not only putting all of your lives at risk, but endangering his own as well."

"Or we let Avery handle him." Isaac said as he looked over at his girlfriend with a smile to show he was only kidding.

Several minutes later Liam was sitting in a chair at the end of the bed with everyone staring at him. His faced was twisted in anger as he glared at them.

"Liam, we're going to take the tape off but if you scream if goes right back on. If you talk quietly it stays off, got it?" Stiles said pointing a stern finger at the teenager.

"It's going to be okay, no one is here to hurt you." Teagan calmly said to him.

When no one made a move, Avery stepped closer and ripped the tape from his mouth causing Teagan to cringe as Liam groaned in pain.

"Okay Liam, you've seen a lot of confusing things tonight and more confusing things are going to happen because of the confusing things that happened tonight, you understand?" Stiles explained then paused for a response.

"And you talk about me not being helpful." Isaac smugly said.

"Because you're not, you're literally the least helpful person on this earth!" Stiles retorted.

"I understood it." Avery spoke up then looked at Liam as she asked, "Do you understand it?"

"See she gets it." Stiles smiled pointing at Avery.

"Not really." Liam admitted.

"I'm not sure I understand either…" Scott slowly admitted to them.

"Maybe we should just tell him." Isaac said, thinking Liam was going to find out soon enough what the bite does and they needed to just tell him.

"Tell me what?" Liam snapped, anger coursing through his veins.

"Alright, Liam…" Avery started to say but Teagan spoke up.

"No, all we should do right now is take him home. What you guys did to him is horrible!" Teagan exclaimed, as she watched the frightened freshman.

Liam looked over at the brunette, his angry expression fading some when he realized she was on his side.

"He needs to know first." Stiles argued with her.

She sighed and crossed her arms over her chest as Isaac ran a comforting hand up and down her back.

Looking at Liam, Scott began to try and explain things the best he knew how, "Liam, what happened to you tonight. What I did to you…which I had to do in order to save you, it's going to change you."

"What?" Liam breathed. Teagan started to try and assure him that he was okay and things would make sense once they explained more but Stiles cut in as he pointed out, "Unless it kills him."

"Well done." Isaac sarcastically said to him.

"I shouldn't have said that…" He breathed out as he shook his head at himself.

"You think?" Isaac continued to taunt him.

Liam lowered his head and started to sniffle.

"Uh… is he… is he crying?" Stiles asked.

"Oh god." Scott breathed feeling horrible for everything they were putting the teenager through.

"Wow…" Isaac breathed as he looked around not sure what to do and Avery said, "Well, that's uncomfortable…"

"Alright, stop it. All of you. Liam you're not going to die." Teagan sternly said as she crossed the room and picked a pair of scissors up off the desk. "You're going to be okay, we're going to help you… I'm going to help you."

"Teagan!" Avery yelled as her friend started to cut the duct tape binding the newly bitten wolf.

"No, stop it, Avery. This is wrong." Teagan snapped back at her friend as she cut the last of the tape.

"Thanks." He said looking up at the brunette who nodded with a friendly smile as she offered, "I'll drive you home."

He watched as she started for the door way and Scott and Stiles approached him, "Are you okay?" Scott asked as Stiles said, "Sorry about all of that."

Turning around he picked up the chair he'd been sitting in, then spun around breaking the chair over Scott's side and effectively knocking both Scott and Stiles down from the impact.

"Liam, what the hell!?" Avery shouted as she started towards him but be forcefully pushed her backwards where she fell against the dresser with a pained hiss.

"Hey!" Isaac angrily yelled as he started after Liam, but was caught off guard when the freshman brought his fist back and punched him hard enough it spun him completely around before he landed on the floor.

"Isaac!" Teagan squealed as she rushed to his side and Liam made a break out of the open door way.

Avery stood up and held onto her sore back and side with tears in her eyes as Scott and Stiles scrambled to their feet and rushed after him.

"Is he okay?" Avery asked, looking to Teagan who was inspecting Isaac's face.

"He's fine." Teagan assured her then nodded to the door as she said, "Go."

Avery nodded and rushed down the hallway, just as she got to the top of the of the stairs she saw Liam escape out of the front door as Scott and Stiles yelled and grabbed onto each other's legs both of them thinking they'd trapped Liam.

With an irritated sigh she raced down the stairs and jumped over the wrestling guys as she rushed out into the cold night air, but she was too late. Liam was gone and she didn't see a trace of him anywhere.

With a defeated expression she turned around and saw Scott and Stiles sitting up on the floor looking outside with stunned expressions, then she glanced up to see Isaac and Teagan heading down the stairs. None of them knowing what Liam's next move would be, if they were lucky he'd be too scared to tell anyone they kidnapped him. It wasn't a long term solution, but for the moment it was the best they could hope for.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you for reading. We'd really appreciate it if you'd take the time to leave a review and let us know that you're reading. ^_^**

**We owe many extra special thank yous to: **xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, Exuberance of Youth, and BloomingBlueMoon85 for reviewing the last posted chapter.****


	15. Close Call

**Chapter Fifteen – Close Call**

* * *

><p>Teagan ran a hand through her hair with a sigh, before she turned her head to look out the window. The dark scenery flashing by as Isaac drove down the road.<p>

Not long ago, they left Scott's house; trying to help him get through to Liam, which resulted in the young boy running away from them, which she didn't blame him. Not after he was bit, kidnapped and tied up

None of them were sure what would happen next. They just had to hope he didn't run straight to the police. Their only plan at the moment was Scott trying to sniff him out and Stiles talking to his dad; the sheriff.

He wasn't going to tell him the full story or even the truth; just tell him if some young kid came in talking about werewolves to ignore it and call them, they would take care of it.

Avery stated she was going home, which they were all grateful for. None of them wanted her to relapse if the stress got to be too much. She was worried what this could do to her pack, but she knew she had to remember what she learned while away. She couldn't wear herself out, she had to remain in control of herself, but also realize there was only so much she could do.

As everyone went their separate ways, Isaac and Teagan got in the car, and drove around town some, just seeing if they could spot Liam anywhere. When the hours ticked by with no sighting they had to assume he just went home and hope he didn't say anything to anyone.

Now that they were on the way to her house, she laid her head against the window, feeling tired and drained from the nights events. She didn't even realize she has fallen asleep until she began to have a weird dream again.

Just like the one before, sometimes it felt like she was herself and other times like she was looking at things through someone elses eyes. She was walking down a familiar hallway, then went into an unfamiliar room, a bright white room.

She shut the door, quickly realizing the room was soundproof, then glanced around trying to figure out where she was. There wasn't much color in the room. The walls were white, as was the carpet. There was touches of orange and red around the room, as well as red and black record player against one of the walls.

She could hear a humming noise, almost like some kind of a white noise. Realizing it was coming from the record player, she walked closer to it, then kneeled down to watch the record spin around and around.

She could barely hear what was being said, but knew it was saying something. Whatever it was saying, she felt like it was important, that it was something she needed to know, something they all needed to know. Maybe it was some kind of a key or a code, but unfortunately, she couldn't hear the word that was being said.

Teagan let out a sign, feeling frustrated, as she stared at the record player. "Tell me." She whispered, pleading with the player to speak louder, to tell her whatever it is she needed to know.

But when she still couldn't hear the word, she quickly stood up, as she kicked the player before yelling out,"Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

Teagan quickly snapped her eyes open and jumped in her seat, when she heard Isaac yelling out her name. She glanced around the car in confusion, then looked out the windshield, seeing that they were parked in her driveway.

She gasped and turned her head, when she felt Isaac lay a hand on her arm, trying to get her attention. She turned in her seat to look at him, feeling her heart slow down and felt herself relax, as he stared at her with a concern look on his face.

"That wasn't a regular nightmare, was it?" Isaac questioned, as he laid a hand on her side of her face. When Teagan shook her head, he felt his heart drop, thinking she was having the hallucinations again, that her mother was back haunting her.

Seeing the scared look on his face, Teagan shook her head again, as she wrapped her hand around his arm, holding on to him, before saying,"No, it's not like that. It's not like before. It's not my mom."

"It's not?" He questioned. As she shook her head to answer, he asked,"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I promise it's not like before." Teagan stated, as she leaned forward to kiss his lips, trying to comfort him. She laid her hands on either side of his face, pulling him closer, as she continued to kiss him. "I'm not losing my mind again, I swear." She kissed him one more time, before pulling back, her lips inches from his, as she whispered,"You won't lose me. I promise."

Isaac breathed out of sigh of relief, as he rested his forehead against her for a moment, then pulled back to look at her. He softly caressed her cheek, as he asked,"What's going on then?"

"Honestly, I don't know." Teagan softly said, as she shook her head.

"I, um, I lied to you this morning." She nervously admitted. When she saw him open his mouth, she laid her hand on his as she quickly explained,"And I know that was wrong, I'm sorry." She blew out a breath, before continuing,"I just, I didn't know how to explain what I saw and honestly I still don't and I didn't want to worry you until I knew what was going on."

"Teagan..." Isaac breathed out, as he cupped her cheek. He shook his head, as he added,"You can't do that. We can't keep things from each other. We always have to be honest, remember? It's you and me."

"I know, but..." She began to say until she paused for a moment to get better control of her emotions. "Things have been... weird since we got back, since the scare, and then this dream happened and it didn't feel like before, but it was confusing." She shrugged her shoulders, as she quietly added,"And I didn't want to tell you something else to cause you to pull away from me."

Isaac sighed as he turned his head to look out the windshield, feeling guilty for the times he did pull away recently. He hated that she kept this from him, but he could also understand why she did. He never should have acted the way he did. He should have handled everything better.

"And you're doing it again." She whispered, as tears filled her eyes.

Isaac quickly turned his head to look at her again, as he shook his head. He laid a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her toward him for a heated kiss, wanting her to feel how much he loved her and that he wasn't leaving her.

"I'm not leaving, I'm not pulling away." He softly said, as he lightly touched her face. He pulled back to look at her, as he continued,"I'm not going anywhere."

"I'm sorry." She whispered, as the two locked eyes.

"It's okay." Isaac said. "With the way I've been acting, I don't blame you, but I'm here now. You can talk to me, I would never run from you, okay?"

"Okay." Teagan quietly said with a nod.

She gave him a small smile as she laid her head back against the head rest before opening her mouth and explaining to him what she saw in the two dreams. She told him everything she could think of, every little detail, not leaving anything out.

She felt him grab her hand as she talked, lightly rubbing his thumb across the back of it. The longer she talked to him, the more she could feel the connection between them again. The connection and calmness she had always felt with him, even from the beginning, but recently she couldn't feel it as much. But now, in the comfort of her car; where it almost felt like a safety bubble she felt like she could tell him anything again.

With a genuine smile on her face, she reached up to lightly run her finger over his bottom lip before leaned forward and softly kissing his lips. She rested her forehead against his, as she blew out a breath.

Regardless of what was going on around them, for the first time since coming home from Long Beach, she felt it again, the way he would always make her feel; a sense of calmness.

**~()~**

Avery tossed and turned in her bed that night, all of the events replaying in her head from finding the meat locker of human corpses to the look of terror in Liam's face when she suggested they kill him.

At the time she'd convinced herself she was kidding but now in the brutal silence of her dark room she was alone with her thoughts and forced to look at the situation with honesty.

She didn't want to kill anyone especially not a seemingly innocent teenage boy, but she knew if it came down to her pack or Liam's life; she knew what her decision would be and the thought sickened her.

It was these dark thoughts and realizations that made it clear that her heart and soul were still darkened from everything she'd been through the Imperium power that coursed through the veins. The darkness she'd been touched by had changed her and even though she still fought against it every single day there were moments where those immoral thoughts creeped in and reminded her that she wasn't normal and would never be normal again.

Sitting up she crossed her legs under her and rested her elbows on her knees as she laid her face in her hands and blew out a heavy frustrated sigh at herself.

She didn't want to be like that, she didn't want to be the person who suggested seemingly depraved solutions to her friends problems but she couldn't help it. Her mouth had always spoke before her brain could filter what was coming out.

Shifting around in her bed she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them with a shiver as she felt that cold feeling start to back in and the last thing she wanted to do was be alone with her thoughts.

Kicking her blankets away from her, she crossed her room and walked into the bathroom where she leaned over the sink and breathed heavily a few times trying to catch her breath. Her eyes moved up to the large mirror on the wall and she blew out a heavy breath at remembering being haunted by a faceless version of herself for so long.

In all honesty she still had some trouble looking in mirrors, but just like everything else on the road to recovery she was working through it every single day.

Hearing a noise she looked over to see her cat Annabel leap from the floor trying to get onto the bathroom counter, but she didn't jump quite high enough and Avery let out a small laugh as her cat tried to latch onto the surface with her claws but all she managed to do was knock several things off before she fell back to the floor.

As her cat scurried off, Avery shook her head and knelt down cleaning up the mess until her hand landed on the handle of a disposable razor and her mind flashed back to the night she'd tried to kill herself.

Looking down to her left forearm she saw the white scars from where she'd hurt herself that night and her mouth immediately went dry. She remembered everything that happened like it was yesterday, she remembered the hallucination of Kate taunting her and Derek and Deputy Parrish trying to talk her down from hurting herself anymore.

Swallowing hard her heart started to speed up some as her legs went weak and she landed to the floor with a thud. It might have only been a nightmare, a hallucination of Kate that night –but now the nightmare was real, the former hunter was alive.

Before Avery was fully even aware of what she was doing she'd scooted back between the toilet and the sink, sitting in the exact same spot she'd been cowering in the night she'd almost ended her life.

Dropping the razor to the floor she pulled her knees up to her chest closed her eyes, trying to calm herself back down. She wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there like that when she heard her door open.

"What are you doing?" Derek yelled, a look of fear on his face as he rushed into the bathroom with her, his eyes moving from the razor to where she was sitting and he was immediately pulled back to the night he'd almost lost her.

"I'm okay." She quickly said looking up from where she was sitting.

"I'm not hurting myself or anything, I swear." She quickly added in, swallowing hard as she continued, "Annabel knocked some things off and I was just picking them up."

He stared at her in silence for a minute before he picked the razor up from the floor and placed it on the sink, then he sat down breathing out a sigh of relief as he leaned his head back against the wall.

"Why are you sitting there?" He questioned, as he moved his legs straight out in front of him and kept his eyes on her.

Shrugging she said, "I couldn't sleep…"

"Because of what happened at the hospital?" He guessed, causing her to look at him confused as she asked, "You know about that?"

"That's why I'm here… the sheriff called me to see what I could pick up from the scene of the crime. Your scent was there." He pointed out.

Raising her eyebrows she defended, "I wouldn't call it a crime, Derek. I mean yeah, I may not have handled the situation as eloquently as other people might have…"

Seeing a look of confusion on his face she asked, "Wait… what are you talking about?"

"The wendgio… what the hell are you talking about?" He pushed.

"That Scott bit a freshman!" She exclaimed rubbing her forehead at realizing they weren't on the same page at all.

"Scott bit someone?" He asked, his voice loud from shock as he stared at her.

Sighing she nodded, "Some annoying freshman out of all people."

"What did you guys do?" He asked, trying to gather as much information as possible.

"We didn't exactly handle it the best way… there might have been some kidnapping and bondage involved… along with some death threats and ultimately he got away." She admitted, avoiding his eyes as he continued to stare at her in shock, "I swear to god… Scott and I have to be the worst alpha and emissary due there ever was."

"Wow…" Derek breathed, shaking his head he continued, "And I thought I handled the situation badly when Scott got bit."

She shot him an unamused look and he let out a small laugh as he said, "It's okay. Tomorrow some of the shock should be worn off and he'll probably be looking for answers about what happened."

"No, you don't understand. Scott screwed up… he screwed up really bad! When the Calaveras let us go… they did it with a warning that if Scott bit an innocent –they were crossing our border. Which means as soon as Araya finds out about Liam, she's coming after us." Avery explained with a frown, as her heart rate started to pick up from fear again.

Standing up he walked over and extended a hand to her as he pointed out, "Even if they do… no one is going to make a move tonight."

Eyeing his hand she softly asked, "Meaning?"

As she gently placed her hand in his and he pulled her to her feet he explained, "Meaning that tonight you can't solve all of the problems of the world, tonight you just need to rest."

**~()~**

The next morning, Teagan made her way downstairs with her pajamas on and a serious case of bedhead, but she didn't care. She smelled food and she was starving. Hearing someone walk in the room, Isaac; who was standing in front of the stove cooking, turned his head and began to laugh when she saw her.

"Wow." Isaac said with another laugh. "Looks like someone slept well last night or either you lost your hair brush." He joked. In all honestly, even with the way she looked, he still thought she looked beautiful. He honestly didn't think there was anything that could make her look bad.

"Don't be mean." Teagan pouted, as she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her face against his back.

"I'm kidding. You look beautiful, babe. Just like always." Isaac said, as he laid a hand on top of her arms and shot her a smile from over his shoulder.

Teagan smiled back, then leaned up on her tip toes, giving his cheek a kiss, before she stepped back from him. She walked over to the counter beside the stove and hopped up to sit on it as she watched him cook.

"You also look well rested, which makes me happy to see. No more dreams last night?" Isaac asked, as he flipped the pancakes he was cooking.

"Nope. Just normal dreams. Well weird, but normal dreams." Teagan answered. "I dreamed we were going to get another dog, but instead you surprised me with a cat. I wanted to name the cat 'Teagan' but you said you hated that name, instead you wanted to name it after you. In the end, we named it, Teasaac."

"What the hell kind of dream is that?" Isaac asked with a laugh, as he looked over at her.

Teagan laughed along with him, then shrugged her shoulders, as she said,"I think it's the kind of normal dreams that normal people have. I will gladly take those kind over some of the ones I have had in the past."

Isaac scooped up the pancakes, placing them on the plate; which was resting on the counter on the other side of the stove. He turned off the griddle, then walked over to her, parting her legs so he could get closer to her.

"Well, let's hope all bad dreams are a thing of the past. You can have all the weird Teasaac the cat dreams that you want." He said, as he laid a hand on the side of her neck. He softly caressed her cheek, as he added,"I just want my girl happy and well rested."

Teagan smiled as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her as the two began to kiss. She pulled back to look at him, a smile still on her face, as she said,"You're doing a great job with the making me happy part." She nodded her head toward the plate of food, as she added,"I always love when you make me breakfast."

"Oh! You thought this was for you." Isaac teased, as he pulled away from her and walked over to the plate. He watched her pout, as he spread butter on the stack of pancakes, then pour syrup on top of them.

"You said waffles were better so I made me some pancakes." Isaac pointed out, as he cut off a piece with his fork.

"I never said they were better. I just said I wanted some yesterday, which I never got by the way!" She said back. "But I will gladly take some pancakes." She folded her hands, then poked out her bottom lip, as she began to pout.

Isaac chuckled, as he picked up the plate then walked back over to her. He stood in front of her, holding the plate up toward her, as he picked up a piece of food. He moved it closer to her mouth, but before he could place it in her open mouth, he quickly pulled it away and shoved it into his own mouth.

"Isaac!" Teagan called out, as she playfully slapped his shoulder.

He laughed at her antics, as he sat the plate of food down and chewed. Once he swallowed the piece of food, he laid his hand on the back of her neck, his lips crashing against hers for a heated kiss. She groaned, nibbling on his bottom lip, she could still taste the syrup that was still on his lips.

She pulled back, licking her lips, as she said,"I think I have a favorite breakfast food now."

Isaac grinned, as he ran his fingers across the plate, getting syrup on his finger, then ran his finger over her lips. He leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers for a gentle kiss.

"Mm.." He began to say, as he pulled back. He licked his lips, like she did earlier, as he said,"I think I have a new favorite too."

Teagan smiled, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him as close to her as she could. She wrapped her legs around his waist as she captured his lips. She didn't even care about the pancakes anymore, all she wanted right now was him.

~()~

After a heated make out, then finally eating breakfast, Teagan and Isaac got ready for school. The two walked out the house together all smiles, as they walked over to her car. Isaac didn't pay attention to his surrounding much, he mostly watched her, glad to see a smile on her face again.

With the way things have been lately; between the scare, the trip to Mexico, and now the Liam problem, it had been awhile since he had seen her that relaxed and happy, and he was going to enjoy it.

Even while driving down the road, he kept sneaking glances at her and would smile as she randomly talked about different things, just whatever crossed her mind.

"Oh! Did you finish the math work?" Teagan questioned, as she turned around in her seat to look for her book bag. She glanced out the back window, seeing a dark colored SUV a couple of car lengths behind them. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion, as she remembered seeing a dark colored car outside her house earlier when they left.

"No. I was just going to copy your answers when we made it to school." Isaac answered, causing her to chuckle.

She shook her head, realizing she was being paranoid for no good reason. For a moment she had wondered if maybe Liam did turn them in, but if he did, the car would have stopped them by now. Besides Isaac didn't seem worried, making her realize she was overly suspicious of everyone.

"How in the world did you make it this far without copying me?" She joked, as she began to dig around for her bag again.

She sat up on her knees, leaning back as far as she could, until Isaac reached out to grab her arm, as he said,"Hey, babe, turn around."

"What?" Teagan asked confused, as she turned her head to look at him.

"Sit down, now!" Isaac barked, as he gripped the steering wheel. He didn't mean to snap at her, but he needed her to turn around. He had a feeling things were about to get bad.

Teagan turned her head back to look out the back window, and felt her eyes widen when she saw the car from earlier gaining speed and getting closer to them. Without another word, she turned around and sat down in the seat. She latched on to the seat belt, as she glanced over at speedometer, seeing that Isaac was going faster as well.

"Isaac..." Teagan breathed out, as her eyes flickered up to look at him. "What is going on?"

"I don't know, but this asshole has been following us for a while now." Isaac answered, as he pressed down on the gas. "At first I thought I was being paranoid, but now I know he is following us. I took a couple of different roads, trying to lose him, but he's still there."

"Isaac?" She softly said, feeling her heart began to race.

"Hmm?" He questioned, as he glanced over at her for a second before looking at the road again.

"The car was outside my house." Teagan admitted, her earlier suspicions coming back.

"What?" Isaac stated in shock, as he looked over at her again. He never saw anything unusually outside the house, but there again, he couldn't stop looking at her.

"I-I saw it when we walked out, but didn't think much of it. Then I just saw it back there, but I thought maybe I was just being paranoid too." Teagan explained. "You didn't seem worried, so I wasn't either." She paused for a moment, seeing him quickly take a right to try to lose the other car with no luck. She grabbed on to the roof of the car, as he took another sharp turn, before adding."Of course now I see that you are worried, which makes me freaking terrified."

"I'm sorry." Isaac said, as he glanced over at her, hating to see the scared look on her face. "Just hang on, okay?"

"Okay." Teagan softly said, as she held on to the roof of the car. She trusted him and knew he wouldn't put her life in danger.

He took another hard right, turning on to a back road, then pressed down on the gas, going faster than before, trying to put some distance between themselves and the other car.

He hated going that fast with her in the car, all it would take was one mistake to wreck and she couldn't heal like he could, but trying to outrun the car was all he knew to do. If he was alone, he would just pull over and confront the person, but since she was with him and he had no idea who was behind the wheel. He didn't know if it was just some punk kid trying to race to school or at worst... a hunter. But either way, he didn't want to take that chance with her sitting beside him.

He let out a low growl when he glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the car turn into the same road as them. The car sped up and pulled out on to the other lane, coming up beside them. The two looked over at the car, trying to see the driver, but the windows were too tinted to see inside.

They saw the car swerving over toward them, like it was trying to push them off the road. Teagan grabbed on to the handle on the car door, as she called out his name, feeling the tires on her side hitting the grass on the side of the road until Isaac turned the wheel and steered the car back on to the road.

She saw him grip the steering wheel, his eyes flashing yellow, as the car swerving toward them again. This time making its way all the way into their lane and forcing Isaac completely off the road.

He lost control of the car for a minute, then with his quick reflexes he was able to get control of it again. He threw out his arm to keep her back, as he yelled out for her to hold on. He slammed on the brakes, the car only inches away from hitting a tree on her side of the car. Teagan felt her body fly forward before the seat belt caught her and slammed her back into the seat. She lowered her head, as she took several deep breaths, trying to slow down her racing heart from the close call they just had.

Isaac saw the other car speed away and wished he could go after it, but right now his only concern was her. He switched the car off, then threw off his seat belt, as he turned in the seat to check on her.

"Hey, hey, look at me." He said, as he grabbed her chin, forcing her to raise her head so he could look at her. He pushed her hair from her face, looking at her closely, as he breathed out,"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Teagan nodded her head, tears filling her eyes, as she thought about how close they came to wrecking. She felt him pulling on her arm, wanting her to come to him. She climb over the center console to sit in his lap. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her against him, as he rested his other hand on the back of her head.

He kissed the side of her head, resting his lips against her, as he blew out a breath. He closed his eyes, like her, realizing how much worse it could have been. As fast as they were going, if they would have hit something, he knew she would have been hurt badly.

Teagan rested her head in the crook of his neck, as she asked,"What- What's happening?"

"I don't know." Isaac answered, as he kissed the side of her head again. "That was more than just some asshole trying to pass us, that was-"

"Someone running is off the road." Teagan interrupted, as she raised her head to look at him. "But the big question is why? Why would someone do that?"

**~()~**

As the alarm on her cellphone went off Avery popped open an eye and groggily reached out until she managed to find her phone and shut the alarm off.

Slowly sitting up she noticed the bed beside her was empty and she frowned, wondering at what point Derek left throughout the night. The last she remembered was them sitting on her bed and her explaining what had happened when Scott bit Liam and how horrible the entire plan had turned out.

Regrettably she tossed the blanket off of her and gradually moved around until her bare legs were off the bed, then she stood up and smoothed out the bottom of her nightie.

"Derek?" She called as she placed both hands on the door frame of the bedroom and leaned out in the hallway to look around but the rest of the upstairs of her house was empty too.

Walking back to the bed she check her phone wondering if he'd sent her a text or something to let her know where he was but the only message she had was from Scott reminding her they needed to find Liam at school that morning.

Crossing her arms over her chest and shivering slightly she made her way downstairs where she started to pass her dad's office when he called out, "Morning."

Pausing in the doorway of the room she groggily answered, "Morning, dad."

"So…" He said as he laid the newspaper down on the desk and focused his attention on his daughter, "Things are okay with you and Derek then?"

Her eyebrows knotted in confusion as she asked, "Why would you ask me that?"

Raising his eyebrows he pointed out, "He stayed last night, right?"

"Did you see him leave?" Avery started to ask but stopped when she heard the garage door shut.

"As far I know he's still here… either that or someone's on the house." Her dad answered nonchalantly as he picked the paper back up and went back to reading that morning's news.

Hearing her cat meowing loudly she followed the sounds into the kitchen where she saw Derek tearing open a new bag of dry cat food as Annabel spun in circles near her glass dish on the floor.

"Are you really feeding my cat?" Avery asked unable to hide the shocked look on her face as she watched him pour some food into the dish.

Looking over to Avery he shrugged, "I couldn't sleep with all of the meowing, I don't know how you slept through it."

With a small shrug of her own she reasoned, "I guess because I don't have werewolf hearing."

Derek nodded with a slight frown, he'd been woken up by Annabel's demanding screams for her breakfast but then he'd came downstairs to make sure everything was okay when he couldn't hear the cat anymore. Turns out, Annabel Lee was still meowing –his hearing just wasn't heightened enough to hear it.

He'd been noticing small things happening like that, his senses starting to diminish some but they normally returned back to normal soon after. But that day they weren't holding up so well, in fact he didn't even know Avery's dad was awake and in the house until he'd almost ran into him downstairs –startling them both.

Not noticing the frown, Avery looked down to the ground and shook her head. Surprised that not only was he still at her house but he was feeding her pet cat, it was such a normal thing but strange to her all the same time because she'd never really seem him do that before.

With a small smile she considered maybe he really was telling the truth when he promised he'd be around more, that he'd be there for her. But another part of her fought against getting used to the idea because as soon as she let her hopes get up, she'd be let down –just like all of the other times.

Derek looked down to the floor where Avery's cat was still spinning in circles meowing even louder than before. Blowing out a heavy, irritated sigh he asked, "What's wrong with it?"

Holding back a laugh, Avery said, "First off… she's a she, not an it. And secondly, she's hungry."

"I gathered that, that would be why I put food down for it, er, she."

Laughing she pointed out, "You're standing too close to her dish and she doesn't trust you, or like you."

Smiling Avery added, "I'm going to change for school, I'm supposed to meet Scott early."

Making her way back to her bedroom she quickly changed into the pair of jeans, low cut shirt and leather boots. Pulling her hair up into a high, messy bun she was reaching for her leather jacket when the door open and she spun around wide-eyed.

"Oh, uh… hey." She stumbled over words, caught off guard by him still being there.

"Are you okay?" He questioned, as he heard her almost stuttering.

"What are you still doing here?" She asked as she folded her arms over her chest and looked around the room.

Shutting the door behind him he turned back with an arched eyebrow as he pointed out, "I've been here…"

She shook her head at herself and clarified, "I mean what are you doing here right now? I thought you were taking off this morning."

Glancing around the room with a small smile, at not only being around her but also that his hearing was back well enough he could hear her slightly accelerated heartbeat. "I thought maybe you'd want to get breakfast.

"Oh…" She breathed, seemingly more confused by the second.

"What?" He breathed out his questions

She avoided his eyes and looked down to the carpet flooring as she admitted, "I don't know, it's just so weird… feeding the cat and going out to breakfast together. It's just so normal…"

"Are you saying I'm not normal?" He joked, trying to lighten the mood some and to get her to smile, but she didn't return it.

With a concerned expression he crossed the room and gently rested his hands on her upper arms as he asked, "What is it?"

Swallowing hard she started to admit, "It's just really weird… nothing about either of us, alone or together was very normal. She looked up at him with a genuine but weak smile as she continued, "It's just strange is all."

"Too strange?" He questioned, his voice quiet as they stood directly in front of each other.

"Not really… I don't think so at least." With a sigh she rubbed her forehead and asked, "What you said before, about being in my life… about staying in my life and not leaving me again, did you really mean that?"

He opened his mouth to speak but she didn't give him a chance as she said, "Everyone just always seems to leave me…"

Remembering the times she'd told him how she felt like people always left her in one way or another, and how scared she seemed to be of opening up to him and chasing him off; he put his hands on her cheeks and gently tilted her face until she was looking at him.

Leaning forward he claimed her lips, both of them immediately melting into the moment and into each other. As he broke the kiss he kept his hands on her face and said, "I wouldn't just take off, okay? I meant what I said, I meant everything I said about us."

"Is there even an us?" She asked, her eyes moving back and forth as she searched his face. Her voice barely came out in a whisper as she added, "I mean… what are we?"

His hands landed on her waist and he stepped in, closing the space between them as he whispered, "I don't know, what do you want to be?"

She tried to command her eyes to not fall to his lips, but it was uncontrollable as her gaze dropped to his mouth and her stomach jumped as she breathlessly admitted, "I don't know-"

His hands rubbed down her sides and pulled her closer to him as their lips moved together. She knew she needed to get school early, that her pack currently had a Liam sized problem they needed to fix before they all wound up in jail for kidnapping and he shifted on a full moon and killed someone.

But she couldn't bring herself to pull out of his arms or away from his kiss. She still had no idea where they stood relationship wise. And there was no denying that her life and sometimes her head was still mess and that maybe she was already expecting too much out of him, but she already felt like she couldn't calm down enough to sleep unless he was there.

When she was in his arms, there was a strange feeling of belonging –like she was exactly where she was supposed to be and where she needed be, but the idea terrified her too because she feared if she really started to need him that he'd leave her.

With that thought she urgently pressed her body against his, clutching tightly onto him as he trailed his lips from her mouth down to the tender exposed skin of her neck. Biting down on her bottom lip, a soft moan escaped her lips at the feeling of his mouth on her sensitive flesh and she leaned her head sideways giving him easier access and her eyes fluttered closed.

Moving towards her large bed, she laid back and pulled him down on top of her as she leaned up kissing across his jawline before he reclaimed her mouth with this own. His hands exploring her clothed body, making her breathing grow even more uneven as she reached between them and pulled his shirt off over his head.

His heart was racing just as fast as hers when they broke the kiss to try and catch their breath and his forehead rested against hers, smiling softly down at her as she ran her hands up his muscled torso and chest before sliding them up farther and holding onto the back of his head and neck as she bit down on her bottom lip and returned the smile as she leaned up pressing her mouth back to his.

Soon her shirt was on the floor next to the bed and he grabbed onto her sides, to slide her back down some on the bed but the moment was broken when she gasped in pain and pushed him back.

Quickly raising up he asked, "What?"

She reached back to touch the sore spot on her back with a look of confusion until she remembered it must have been from where Liam pushed her and she fell against the dresser the night before.

"Uh…" She stuttered out, as she sat up and looked for her shirt, "I just remembered I need to meet Scott before school."

Her head was spinning as she realized how much she'd got carried away in the moment with him, as much as she wanted to be with him in every sense of the word –she also knew she needed to proceed with caution, before too much happened too fast and she'd lose him again.

"Avery?" He pushed, knowing something else had to be wrong with the way she'd reacted and pushed him back.

"I'm sorry." She apologized leaning off the side of the bed some to grab her shirt but leaning sideways was a mistake as she revealed the large dark bruise on her back to him.

"What happened?" He asked, immediately more worried than he already was.

Sighing at her slip up she scrambled off the bed and to her feet as she started to pull her shirt on but he quickly jumped to his feet too inspected the injury as she tried to turn her inside out shirt around in her hands.

"It's not as bad as it looks." She quickly said as she straightened her shirt and pulled it back on over her head, taking a step back from him.

"It is as bad as it looks… what happened?" He asked stepping closer and firmly holding onto her hips, not letting her pull or turn away like she was trying to do it.

"Scott's new beta." Avery admitted as she avoided his eyes and explained, "After Teagan cut him loose the little bastard turned on us, but Derek I'm fine."

Lifting her shirt back up he looked at the large, dark bruise and pointed out, "You don't look fine."

"Well, I am." She said, her voice a little harsher than she'd meant for it to be.

Shaking her head she finally said, "I need to get school, Scott's waiting on me."

When she tried to pull away again he let go of her and watched in silence as she grabbed her school bag and jacket on her way to her bedroom door.

As she made her way down the stairs she tried to remind herself that this was probably for the best anyways, if she'd spent another few minutes in that room alone with him she'd probably have done something she'd end up regretting. And if there was any chance in hell that she and Derek could try to make things work this time around, it had to be based off something more than just sex.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Miss E Charlotte and I are still having tons of fun working on this story and everything else Blue Moon related, and we hope you're all still liking it!**

**To: SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena and MazeRunner we wanted to say thank you so much for taking the time to read chapter 14 and being sweet enough to review! ^_^**


	16. Team Work

**Chapter Sixteen – Team Work**

* * *

><p>Avery turned onto a hallway and saw Liam dart around a corner, the teenager skid to a stop when he saw her.<p>

He quickly looked over his shoulder to see if Scott and Stiles had followed him too, he'd just managed to slip out of the hallway they'd tried to corner in him.

"Leave me alone." Liam said backing away from her.

"Believe me, I really wish I could. I hated dealing with freshman even when I was one myself… but this is unavoidable." She said walking forward closer to him.

"Look." He growled, "I don't know what you want from me, but if you don't leave me alone right now… I'm calling the cops."

Anger flashed in her eyes and she shook her head back and forth as she clicked her tongue and took a few steps forward before saying, "After putting a bruise the size of Texas on my back and ruining what could have been a really great morning for me… threatening to call the police is the worst possible thing you could say right now."

He opened his mouth to ask what she was talking about, but the only noise he could make was a pained yelp as she reached out and grabbed onto his upper ear and held on so tight he thought for sure the cartridge was going to shatter.

Without another word to him, she ignored his pleas for her to let go as she dragged him back in the direction he'd fled from. Turning onto an otherwise empty hallway she called out to Scott and Stiles, "Found your lost puppy."

The boys turned around breathing a sigh of relief to see Avery had managed to trap Liam.

Letting go of his ear she pushed him closer to the best friends as he rubbed his ear and shot her a hateful look.

"Why are you doing this?" He yelled at the older teens.

"Liam, we need to talk… okay?" Scott said calmly as he stepped closer, but the freshman wasn't having any part of it as he held out his arms defensively and yelled, "No, you need to back the hell up. All of you!"

"Can you just listen for one second?" Scott pleaded.

Knowing there was no way out of the hallway he angrily threw his arms out to the sides and nodded for Scott to go on.

Thankful for the teens cooperation Scott took a deep breath and began, "Liam, we're brothers now."

"Oh god…" Stiles breathed as he shook his head and Avery stared at Scott, while Liam's face twisted with confusion.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded to know, "We just met and you bit me!"

"The bite… is a gift." Scott continued, mimicking Derek's words and actions from when the other wolf had said to him after he was bitten.

"Oh, good god." Avery breathed out as she hung her head.

"Scott!" Stiles exclaimed shaking his head back and forth, "Please stop… just stop."

Pointing a finger at Liam, Stiles tried to be threatening as he said, "We are trying to help you, you little runt."

Liam made a face at them as he shot back, "By kidnapping me?"

"Just to clarify… Scott and Avery kidnapped you. And I… just aided and embedded…." Stiles tried to explain and defend himself against the accusations.

Sighing Scott continued to try and explain, "Liam, I have gone through this before… something's happening to you. Something big."

"Nothing is happening to me." The freshman argued, as he ripped the bandage off his arm that had been covering the bite. Showing them his completely healed forearm Liam loudly said, "Nothing!" as he turned and stormed off down the hallway.

"Perfect." Stiles exclaimed as Scott asked, "You don't think he's gonna tell anyone, do you?"

"No." Avery confidently said as she spun on her heels and started in the direction he went.

"What are you going to do?" Scott yelled after her, but she didn't respond and Stiles told Scott to just let her handle it.

Finally catching up with the freshman she grabbed his book bag and jerked him to a stop, as he spun around to see what was happening she pushed him against the wall next to a row of lockers and pinned him.

"W-what are you doing?" He asked, looking at her wide eyed.

Flashing him her signature smile she asked, "I know this probably goes without saying… but you're not to speak a word of what's happened to anyone."

"Are you threatening me?" He asked, trying to act like she wasn't intimidating him. But the truth was he'd been afraid of the blonde since the prior night.

"No, no… of course not Liam." She said with a laugh as he patted his chest and smiled again.

"I'm simply letting you know in the friendliest way possible that if you make one move to tell a soul about anything that has happened. I have the ability and means to take you down." She continued.

He looked at her wide eyed, the expression on her face seemed friendly but her words were clearly a threat.

"You see…" She continued as she pulled the book bag strap back up on his shoulder from where it had slid, "Despite what you think, we really are trying to help you."

He held perfectly still and glanced down as she smoothed the wrinkles out on his shirt and finished, "However; if you screw this up… I'll make you wish you were never born."

He swallowed hard and she flashed him a smile as she stepped back and patted his arm as she said, "So have a good day… I'll be watching you."

As she nodded for him to go he slowly backed away and from the wall and stepped away from her before turning and rushing off towards his first class.

Folding her arms across her chest she called after him, "I have eyes all over this school, handsome."

He glanced over his shoulder at her and nearly tripped over his own feet as he picked up his pace trying desperately to get away from her.

She stood still for a few moments before she started to turn to leave but paused when she saw Malia rushing towards her.

"Morning." Avery greeted.

Malia said something that resembled 'good morning' with a voice muffled by the few pens she was holding between her teeth.

After spending a second digging through her bag she pulled out her econ folder, then took the pens out of her mouth as she asked, "Can you look at last nights homework?"

"Sure." Avery said as she took the folder from her and started to look over the paper.

Making a face Malia sniffed the air and said, "What's going on? I smell fear."

With a smirk Avery continued looking over the paper as she assured her, "Yeah, it's not mine… I just terrified a freshman."

Malia looked around them trying to pinpoint the exact source of the scent, but she couldn't locate it as she asked, "Why?"

"Rules of the animal kingdom, right? Assert your dominance over the weak." Avery said as she pulled a pen from her purse and corrected an answer on the worksheet.

"Yeah… but I thought you said rules of nature don't apply in school."

Handing the folder and corrected paper back to her she smiled a wide, beaming smile as she pointed out, "Well, Malia… sometimes they do."

Without another word Avery walked past the were coyote heading for her own locker a couple halls over.

Malia put the folder back in her book bag then looked up with confusion as she turned and started to chase after the blonde calling out, "Wait! How do I know which rules apply?"

**~()~**

After attending a couple of her classes, Teagan made her way toward her locker, trying to forget about what happened that morning on the way to school; which wasn't an easy thing to do. She and Isaac still had no idea why someone would try to run them off the road.

When she had seen the car earlier near her house, she thought cops. Maybe Liam did turn them in, but a cop would turn on his lights and pull you over, not run you off the road. Then she thought hunters, but a hunter wouldn't just drive away, he or she wouldn't leave until the job was done.

Once they arrived at school, she saw Isaac glancing around the parking lot, in case the driver was just a student being a jerk and playing around. He saw a few dark colored cars that would fit the description of the car that ran them off the road, but since neither one saw the tag, it was hard to tell if any of the cars he saw was the one; meaning for now, all they could do was keep going on with their day, but she was finding it hard to do that.

She couldn't fight the chill settling in over her, the one that made her think this was just the beginning and that the incident wasn't just a random attack. She hated those thoughts, she wanted to believe that things were not going to get worst, but the feeling would not go away.

She opened the locker door, then wrapped her arms around herself, subconsciously running her hands up and down her arms as if she was trying to warm herself up.

Hearing a noise from up above, she snapped her head up, seeing one of the schools old intercom systems above her locker. She titled her head to the side and lowered her eyebrows in confusion when she realized the noise she heard sounded a lot like the noise she heard in her last dream, the sound the record player was making.

She kept one arm wrapped around her self, but lifted her other arm to lay her hand on her chest, her fingers touching the puzzle piece charm around her neck. She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath as she tried to ignore all the other noises and just concentrate on the noise coming from the intercom.

She was so lost in thought, she didn't hear Isaac when he walked up behind her, but she jumped when she felt his arm wrap around her. He tightened his hold around her, pulling her back against his chest, as he whispered in her ear,"Shh, it's okay. I got you. It's okay."

She felt him kiss the side of her head, then she turned around in his arms to face him, as she asked, "What are you doing?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Isaac said back. As soon as he stepped out of his class he heard it; her heart racing and her whispering to herself. It was something he heard often back when her mother was haunting her, and after hearing her admit to having dreams again, he expected the worst.

"I heard you, all the way on the other side of the building. What happened? What's going on?" He questioned.

"I-I heard something." Teagan answered, as she paused for a moment, trying to see if she could hear it again. She glanced back up at the intercom, as she asked, "Do you hear it?"

"Hear what? I don't hear anything." Isaac answered. His face fell, as he watched her glance around; like she was looking for something or trying to hear whatever she heard earlier.

Assuming she was hallucinating again, like before, he laid his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to look at him as he said, "Hey, hey, look at me." Once he had her attention he took a deep breath as he pushed her hair out of her face and said, "What did you see?"

"I didn't see anything, but I heard it." Teagan stated.

"Heard what? Babe, what did you hear?" Isaac asked.

"The record player. I heard it again. It's-It's trying to tell me something, but I can't- I just can't hear it plain enough." Teagan said. She rubbed her forehead with a sigh as she added, "It's not loud enough to hear. Why can't I hear it?"

"Hey..." He began to say, as he laid a hand on the side of her neck caressing her cheek when he saw she was getting frustrated. He took a deep breath, as he softly said, "Tell me again how this isn't like before."

Seeing the fear in his eyes, she wrapped her hand around his arm, as she said, "It's not. I know I sound crazy, but I swear I'm not." She leaned forward to softly kiss his lips, hoping to convince him that she was still herself; that she was still in her right mind.

As she went to pull back, she felt him pulling her back toward him, as he tangled his fingers in her hair and kissed her a little longer. He just needed her near him, needed to prove to himself that he wasn't losing her like before.

She rested her forehead against his blowing out a breath feeling herself relax. She pulled back to look at him, a small smile on her face as she whispered, "It's okay, I'm not going anywhere."

Isaac opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say a word Avery rushed over to them, stopping beside her best friend she grabbed Teagan's arm, as she stated, "Come with me."

"You have got the worst timing ever, Dukate." Isaac stated as he looked over at the blonde.

"Now is not the time for your awkward ass comments, Lahey." Avery said back. She pulled on Teagan's arm as she added, "Pack meeting now."

"How come I'm not invited?" Isaac questioned.

"You are invited." Avery said back. "Now let's go." She added as she pulled on Teagan's arm again.

Teagan quickly shut her locker door, as Avery began to drag her down the hallway with Isaac following along behind the two girls. He ran a hand over his hair and couldn't stop himself from grumbling, "It doesn't sound like I'm invited."

"Oh my God, Isaac! You're invited." Avery snapped, as she came to a stop, forcing Teagan to slam into her. She turned around to look at Isaac as she added, "You're invited to the pack meeting."

"Why didn't you just say that from the start?" He questioned.

"I invited Teagan. By inviting Teagan that means you are invited too, cause we all know you two are a package deal." Avery explained. She grabbed on to Teagan's arm again, as she nodded down the hallway and asked, "Now can we go?"

Isaac nodded his head as he gestured down the hallway, telling her to go and they would follow. As he began to follow along behind the two girls again, he questioned, "So does that go for anything? Like next time you two have your little girl talks, if Teagan is invited I'm invited too? Or the next time you two have a sleepover-"

"I swear, Isaac, I will slap you if you don't shut up." Avery said, interrupting him and causing Teagan to chuckle at the two bickering back and forth.

The trio were silent for the rest of time as they made their way outside and over toward the parked buses, where; Scott, Kira, Stiles, Malia and Lydia were. The other five were in the middle of talking as Avery, Teagan and Isaac walked up.

"I'm not sharing my basement." Malia stated.

"Actually, it's my basement." Lydia pointed out. "And my mom noticed how you tore it up last time."

"All right, she's still learning." Stiles said, taking up for Malia.

"What is going on?" Teagan questioned, as she glanced around at her friends in confusion.

"Yeah, who's not invited to the basement?" Isaac added, as he wrapped his arm around Teagan's waist, pulling her closer to him.

Scott explained to the couple about how badly the talk with Liam went earlier, and even though Avery threatened him to be quiet, they still had the problem of what to do with him that night; which happened to be a full moon.

As he continued to explain that they were going to use the boathouse for Liam, Avery tuned him out, having already heard the plan before she went in search of Teagan and Isaac, and instead glanced around at her friends.

All of them were on edge, between their own personal problems, the latest dangers and now the Liam problem, they were all seconds away from snapping. It made her realize how strong they all were. No matter what life threw their way, they were able to solve it and was somehow able to keep going on.

Her eyes stopped on each of the couples; Teagan was pressed against Isaac's side, Stiles had a hand on the small of Malia's back, even Scott kept reached out and lightly touching Kira's hand every so often.

She couldn't help but softly smile as she watched how each couple had their little ways of comforting the other. She was happy for them all, but also a little envious.

She couldn't help but think of Derek; wondering where they stood now. They'd kissed a few times and so far he had kept his word about being there, but how long would that last? She wanted to believe his words, but she couldn't help but think back to their past. The times he did hurt her, what if he hurt her again?

Avery snapped out of her own thoughts, when she heard Kira speak up and asked, "But how do we get him out to the lake house if he doesn't trust us?"

"I say if it keeps him from murdering someone we chloroform the little bastard and throw him in the lake." Stiles stated.

"I'm in." Malia said, as she held up her hand.

"Stiles!" Teagan called out in surprise. She opened her mouth to say something more, but before she could, Avery spoke up and said, "That's a bad idea, Stiles."

"Thank you!" Teagan added, as she gestured over to her best friend, happy she was for once siding with her when it came to Liam. That is until Avery began to talk again.

"You can't just throw him in a lake. He'll come back up. What we need to do is weigh his body down somehow."

"Avery!" Teagan snapped, as she looked over at the blonde.

"Hey, I'm not the one who suggested murder this time." Avery stated, as she held up her hands. She pointed over toward Stiles as she added, "He said it, I was just building on the plan. I saw this show once-"

"For the love of God, please don't finish that sentence." Teagan said, interrupting her.

"Well, we do need a plan, right?" Isaac pointed out.

Teagan looked up at her boyfriend in shock as she said, "Not a plan with murder involved."

"Yeah, we're not killing or kidnapping him." Scott added.

"Again." Isaac butted in, as he looked over at Stiles.

"Why are you looking at me? I didn't kidnap him the first time." Stiles pointed out. He pointed to Scott and Avery as he said, "It was them."

"Why do you always have to point that out?" Avery asked Stiles.

"You guys, we have to get back on topic here. We need a plan." Scott said, interrupting Avery and Stiles before they started bickering.

"So we're not killing?" Isaac questioned.

"No!" Scott and Teagan yelled over at him, causing him to raise his hands in surrender as he stated he was just making sure.

"Let's be smarter." Lydia said, getting their attention. "We tell him there's a party and invite him."

"That's a good idea. No Freshman can turn down a party." Teagan said.

"That is very true." Avery said, as she nodded her head in agreement. "We..." She began to say, as she pointed to herself, Teagan and Lydia, before continuing, "Went to several parties our freshman year."

"She's right, we did." Teagan said with a nod, remembering all the parties they went to until she moved.

"How do we get him there?" Malia questioned.

"Yeah, after the kidnapping and murder talk he's not going to trust any of us." Kira added.

"That's not true." Avery said, as she looked over at Teagan.

Stiles, seeing who she was looking at, looked over at the brunette too, as he snapped his fingers and said, "That's right! He'll listen to you."

"No." Isaac stated, as Teagan asked, "What makes you think he is going to listen to me?"

"You're the one who cut him loose. In his mind, you're on his side." Avery pointed out.

"Nope, not happening." Isaac continued, as he shook his head even though everyone ignored him.

"Plus there is the obvious reason." Stiles said, getting everyone's attention. When everyone shot him confused looks he chuckled as he said, "Oh come on! None of you see it?" He glanced over at Isaac seeing the look on his face as he pointed at him and said, "Isaac sees it."

"Sees what?" Teagan asked feeling even more confused.

"The little rugrat has a huge crush on our little Teagan." Stiles said. He looked back over at Isaac as he said, "Am I right, Isaac?"

"She's not talking to him." Isaac stated as he folded his arms across his chest. He still didn't trust the guy and now that he was a newly turned werewolf he didn't want his girlfriend anywhere near him.

"Don't be jealous, Isaac." Avery said over to him.

"I'm not jealous." Isaac mumbled, even though everyone could tell he was.

"Please, you are like two seconds away from marking your territory." Avery joked. "It's not like she is asking him on a date."

"Yeah, it's just a party." Lydia added. "We need to get him away from people. Talk him into staying locked up for the night."

Scott nodded his head as he looked over at Isaac and added, "You remember your first full moon, right? It's not easy."

"I know but-"

"Hey, it's okay." Teagan said, interrupting him. She grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze as she turned to him and said, "Someone needs to talk to him." She pointed over at Stiles for a moment, as she continued, "Now I don't believe his whole crush theory but I think I can get through to him and if I can then I have to do it. We have to help him."

Isaac sighed as he finally nodded his head. He glanced over at the others as he said, "Okay, but I'm going to be there when she talks to him."

"He's not going to listen to a word she says if you are standing there." Avery pointed out.

"Plus you got murder eyes going on right now. That's just going to scare the pup away." Stiles added.

"You can stand nearby. Like around the corner or something." Lydia suggested.

As Isaac nodded his head, they heard the bell ring, signaling their next class beginning. Teagan turned to the others telling them she will talk to him after next class then the group split up; Scott, Kira, Lydia and Malia going one way and Avery, Teagan, Isaac and Stiles going the other way.

The four were silent for a moment, until Avery turned to look at Teagan; who was walking beside her, and said, "Oh and if you have to, flash a boob. It worked before."

"Whoa, wait, what?" Isaac called out as he come to a stop. As the others stopped walking and turned to face him he shook his head as he said, "Oh hell no. Plan is off."

"Calm down, Lahey. I was joking." Avery said with a laugh.

"Well, hold on. As someone who used to be a freshman boy, I can assure you, we do like boobs." Stiles pointed out. "Actually any age, we like boobs."

"I'm not showing my boobs." Teagan argued, as she folded her arms across her chest.

"It doesn't have to be a boob. Just show a little bra, we like that too." Stiles said back. "And I'm sure he'll like the blue one you are wearing right now. Most boys like blue, it's a calming thing."

"Stiles!" Teagan called out, as she slapped his shoulder. She remembered the time he mentioned looking down girl's shirts sometimes when they bent over. Since then she always tried to be careful, but apparently he was still looking somehow.

"You look down her shirt again, I'm tearing out your eyes." Isaac threatened, as he pointed a finger at Stiles.

"It's a sickness! I can't help it!" Stiles argued, as he held up his hands.

Teagan playfully rolled her eyes at the comment, then with a chuckle, turned and began to walk away. Isaac shook his head at Stiles as he walked away to catch up with his girlfriend leaving Avery alone with Stiles.

Stiles glanced over at the blonde and shrugged his shoulders, as if to ask 'what'. In his opinion he didn't say anything wrong. Like Teagan, he saw Avery roll her eyes at him, then look away. While she was looking off to the side, he stretched his neck out, trying to look down her low cut shirt, but before he could catch a look, she turned back to look at him.

"Don't even think about it." Avery stated, as she pointed her finger at him before she began to walk away and catch up with Teagan and Isaac.

Once inside the building, Avery waved at the couple before heading down the hallway in the opposite direction from them. Isaac began to walk beside Teagan, wrapping an arm around her waist as the two made their way down the empty hallway toward their next class.

He leaned forward a little, looking down her shirt, then nodded his head. The bra she had on was one of his favorites. He was in the middle of another peek down her shirt, when she turned her head, catching him.

"What are you doing?" She asked with a laugh.

"Nothing." Isaac lied, as he shot her a smile.

She came to a stop, grabbed his hands as she turned around to face him. She intertwined their fingers, as she said, "You know, you don't have to sneak peeks at my bra or boobs. All you have to do is ask."

"Really?" He questioned with a grin. As she nodded her head, he continued, "How do you feel about being late to class then?"

"Well, that depends." Teagan said, as she walked closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, stepping on her tip toes to give him a gentle kiss. She pulled back to look at him, as she whispered out, "What are you going to show me?"

Isaac grinned as he gave her a quick kiss, then grabbed her hand, pulling her down the hall and looking for an empty room. They turned a corner and skid to a stop when they saw their teacher standing by the open door to the classroom they were supposed to be inside.

"Ms. Young, Mr. Lahey, I hope you two are rushing down the hall cause you are trying to make it to class on time." The teacher said.

"Of course, Mrs. Greer." Teagan said back, as she smiled at the older woman.

As the two walked into the room, Teagan glanced over her shoulder, as she mouth the word 'later' to Isaac, letting him know they will pick up where they left off later. He grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze before the two walked over to their desks and sat down; Teagan in front and Isaac sitting behind her, their hands still joined together.

**~()~**

Avery walked into Derek's building and started for the elevator, since everything that had happened before school that day she was really hoping they could get a chance to talk.

Hearing foot steps she looked over to see a tall figure coming down the stairs, she started to turn her attention back to the open elevator but then stopped and did a double take as she realized the guy she'd seen had no mouth.

Realizing this was the axe murderer who'd taken out the family of wendigos she spun back around but he was jumping over the stair rail and before she could catch up he'd darted out a side door and was nowhere to be found.

Walking back to the stairs she looked down to see a black glove with some sort to small keypad device attached to it.

She quickly grabbed the glove then darted into the elevator nervously tapping her foot as it climbed the building floor by floor, anxiety was at an all-time high as she wondered who the mute man was and why he was in Derek's building.

As the elevator doors open she ran to Derek's loft and raced inside to find Peter laying on the floor with a tomahawk sticking out of his chest as he weakly kicked his legs and made pained noises.

"Where's Derek?" She asked, panic apparent in her frenzied voice.

"Not… here." Peter groaned out an answer.

"Oh thank god." She breathed as she started to turn and leave but Peter called after her to help him.

Sighing she hung her head for a moment trying to decide if she should help him or not.

Finally she crossed the room and knelt down to see the axe had pinned a paper against the werewolf's chest.

Kneeling down farther she placed a hand on his shoulder for leverage and looked at him as she grabbed onto the handle of the tomahawk and waited for him to give a cue that he was ready.

Using all of her strength she pulled the weapon from his chest as he screamed out in pain, his voice echoing off of the old walls of the loft.

Standing up she walked over to the table in front of the window and looked at it closely she could see a powdered residue mixed with blood and frowned at the sight.

Managing to pull himself to his feet he leaned on the table for support and in a disbelieving tone told her, "He had no mouth…"

"I know." She nodded then shrugged as she asked, "What was he even doing here?"

"He said Derek is next." Peter explained seeming just as confused as she was.

Looking down to his wound Peter groaned when he saw it wasn't healing and a black infection was spreading from the site, he shook his head and muttered, "Wolfsbane."

"Yeah, and I have no idea what kind it is either." The blonde admitted as she walked away from the table to open a small closet off to the side of the large open room.

"Meaning?"

Turning around with a lighter in her hand she said, "Meaning I'm going to have to burn it out before the infection spreads to your heart and kills you."

Looking at the lighter she held out in front of her, he said, "I think I can handle a little fire." As sweat started to bead across his forehead both from pain and from the spreading fever of the poison.

With a smirk she held up the object she'd kept hidden behind her back and his mouth opened at the sight of the blowtorch as he said, "Oh hell…"

Lighting it she said, "The alternative is death…"

Groaning he pulled his shirt off and dropped it to the floor as he leaned back against the table trying to prepare himself for the upcoming agony as he asked her, "You know what you're doing right?" His eyes were glued to the blue hot flame from the torch as he spoke to the teenager.

"Of course." She said seeming a bit too cheerful for the situation at hand. Stepping closer she surveyed the gaping wound on his bare chest and said, "I've read about this."

His eyes widened as he said, "Wait, what?"

But she didn't give him an answer as she went to work burning the wolfs bane out of his wound, trying to block out his screams of pain and focus entirely on the color of the smoke so she'd know when all of the poison was out.

Finally the smoke ran a pure white she clicked the torch off and Peter almost instantly collapsed onto the floor of the loft clutching onto his chest and writing in pain.

Taking out her phone she sent a text to Derek letting him they know needed to talk and that it was an emergency as she headed for the door pausing to pick the glove up she'd dropped earlier.

"Where are you going?" Peter called after her as he got himself stood back up and leaned against the table.

"Anywhere is better than having to stay here with you." She called over her shoulder.

"Now you're just hurting my feelings." He exclaimed, causing her to lower her head and hold back a laugh, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of knowing anything he said was remotely funny.

She took another step, fully intending to leave until he said something that stopped her in her tracks, "What are you going to do about Kate?"

Slowly she spun back around and faced his direction with a questioning look on her face.

"What?" He asked at her reaction then cocked his head to the side as he questioned, "You have been trying to find her, right?"

It felt like her legs weighed a ton as she slowly crossed the room and asked in a quiet voice, "Why would I do that?"

"Well…" He said with raised eyebrows, "Next to me I can't think of someone she's hurt more than you…"

"I can think of someone she's hurt more than us both." Avery said, referencing Derek.

With a shrug he said, "True… but Derek seems content sitting on the sidelines –while she's out there running all over town with her berserkers. Who by the way, tried to kill all of us."

Avery's eyebrows knotted together as she shook her head at him her forehead lined with confused as she sat the black glove and keypad down on the table and listened as he continued, "I'm surprised you're not out there right now trying to track her down and kill her… after all she's done to you."

"You've considered it, right? Thought about how things would have been fine between you and Derek if Kate hadn't screwed everything up." He pushed her.

"Not true." She argued, her tone weaker than she'd have liked for it to be, "We just couldn't make it work anymore."

He watched her closely as he rested his hands on the table and leaned down some saying, "It could have worked… but Kate showed back up, drove a wedge between the two of you and things were never the same. They couldn't be, because of her."

Seeing the effect his words were having on her he loudly said, "You're getting closer again and guess what? Now Kate is back and I'm really starting to sense a theme here, you get things back on track and she ruins it for you."

"Why are you saying this?" She demanded to know, as she tried to stop his words from circling round in her head.

"Because I know you, Avery. I know you're not the kind of person who can just stand by and let someone take care of their business. How are you going to feel when someone else gets to her before you?" He pushed, leaving out the part of Derek wanting to find out what Kate had done to him.

"Relieved." She snapped, then smirked and smugly replied, "Hopefully whoever takes the bitch out will do a better job then you did."

With a small laugh he nodded, "Fair enough… but you know what I think?"

"I don't care what you think." She sighed, but made no attempt to leave as he continued talking.

"I don't think you'll be relieved. I think it haunts you because it should have been you who killed her, you should get to watch that final light burn out in her eyes. You can't honestly tell me you don't want to take her out." He continued, his words twisting their way into her mind and for a moment she started to think solely about revenge.

Avery stared down to the table, dark thoughts flooding her mind as the overhead light started to flicker. Peter tilted his head back and looked at the dancing light before looking back to her with a smug, corrupt smile. He knew that darkness inside of her was what made her strong.

"What's going on?" Derek asked as he stepped into his loft to see Avery and his shirtless uncle standing across the table from each other.

The lights stopped flickering and she looked at Derek wide eyed as Peter slowly turned around to face his nephew with a greeting, "Derek, how nice of you to finally grace us with your presence."

"Yeah." Avery chimed in with a laugh at her own joke as she said, "Peter's been dying to see you."

The older wolf shot her an unamused look over his shoulder before turning back and filling Derek in on how a guy with no mouth was there and tried to kill him, before he left the mute said he was going after Derek next.

Looking between them Derek nodded as he asked, "How does a guy with no mouth say anything?"

Seeing the glove Avery had laid down on the table Peter picked it up and said, "With this."

Derek took the glove and looked it over with a confused expression as he admitted, "I've never seen anything like this before."

"I think we need to take it to Sheriff Stilinski. The same guy took out an entire family of wendigos and now apparently he's after werewolves… something really strange is going on here."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- I hope you guys all really enjoyed the chapter! If you're not following us yet, Miss E Charlotte and I both have links up to our Tumblrs on our profiles. We post lots of Blue Moon related content. ^_^**

**An extra special thank you goes out to: SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, Momsen-xxx, and MazeRunner for reviewing chapter 15! I can't believe we're already 16 chapters in!**


	17. You Remind Me

**Chapter Seventeen – You Remind Me**

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><p>After the bell rang, ending class, Teagan and Isaac slowly stood up, their eyes on each other. Teagan knew she needed to talk to Liam, but was kind of dreading the conversation. After everything that happened the night before and earlier that day; Scott biting him, he and Avery kidnapping him. All the threats and talk of murder, he had ever right snapping at her.<p>

Like Teagan, Isaac was dreading the talk as well. He told himself the others were wrong, he wasn't jealous, he was just worried about his girlfriend being around a newly turned werewolf; who seemed to have anger issues. He had already attacked them the night before, what if he did the same to her while she tried to talk to him?

That was why he wanted to be near by while she talked to him. Just in case something went wrong. He knew she could handle herself, but it never hurt to have back up.

Teagan reached out to grab his hand, latching on to him, as the two walked out of the class room and out into the hallway. Isaac led her over toward his locker, which was near the class room they just left and opened the door to toss his books inside. He reached out to grab her books, putting them inside his locker, before shutting the door and wrapping an arm around her to pull her toward him.

He laid his hand on the back of her head as she buried her face in his shirt, his scent calming her. He kissed the side of her head, as he said,"You don't have to do this, you know. The pack will understand."

"I know, but he does need to be locked up tonight." Teagan said, as she pulled back to look at him. "It's his first full moon. We can't just leave him out there alone. He's going to be so scared and confused, plus he could really hurt someone."

"What if he hurts you?" Isaac questioned. "If you're alone with that punk and something happens to you-"

"Nothing is going to happen." Teagan said, interrupting him. She flashed him a smile, as she added,"I'm a badass, remember?"

"Oh I remember." Isaac said, as he smiled back. He laid his hand on the side of her neck, pulling her toward him for a deep kiss. "I've had plenty of dreams of you being a badass. It's pretty hot."

"Hm, sounds a little kinky." Teagan teased, as she laid her hands against his, intertwining their fingers together. "Maybe we should pull out the handcuffs that Avery gave us." She shot him a look, as she warned,"Just don't handcuff me to the bed and leave again." Reminding him of when he was possessed by one of the flies and went after the former alpha twins.

Isaac chuckled, as he shook his head and said,"I won't do that again. Next time you're cuffed to the bed, I'm going to take advantage of that." He paused for a moment, the different things he wanted to do to her flashing through his mind.

"Next time, I'm gonna..." He leaned toward her to whisper in her ear what he was going to do to her, causing her to gasp. He grinned against her ear, when he heard her breathing pick up and felt her grab on to his shoulder, her nails digging into his skin. He was getting to her, which in turn was a huge turn on for him.

"I don't know if you're really trying to turn me on or if you're just trying to distract me, but either way, it worked." Teagan said, as she bit her bottom lip and looked up at him.

"Maybe a little bit of both." Isaac confessed, as he gave her a smile. He tapped the end of her nose, making her laugh, then added,"Although I am completely serious about the cuffing you to the bed thing. I think maybe we should try it."

"Where did you even learn about something like that?" Teagan asked with a laugh.

"I might have borrowed a book recently from Avery." Isaac shyly admitted.

"What other things did you read in that book?" Teagan questioned.

"There was this other thing I saw about ice cream, that we need to try." Isaac said excitedly.

"What is it about you and food?" Teagan teased, not that she was complaining. She opened her mouth to asked him what he read, but before she could say another word, she saw Liam down the hallway with a friend of his.

She held up a finger, as she said,"Hold that thought. There's Liam."

"Hey..." He softly said, getting her attention. He laid a hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, as he continued,"I need you to be careful, okay?"

"I will." She promised, as she laid her hand on top of his.

"I mean it, Teagan, if he says anything wrong or you start to feel threatened... Just call for me." He said, still feeling nervous about her talking to him alone. "I'm right here, but I can be there in seconds."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she leaned forward to give him a quick kiss. He laid his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her back toward him for another kiss, before whispering out,"It's you and me.", against her lips.

"Always." She whispered back, as she pulled back with a smile on her face.

She grabbed on to his hand, giving it a squeeze, gaining strength from his words, then glanced over his shoulder to look at Liam. She gave Isaac one more look, before walking pass him to make her way over toward Liam and his friend.

Liam turned to open his locker door, then froze when he saw her coming down the hall. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest as she got closer to him, then flashed him a smile. He glanced around behind him, thinking maybe one of her friends was nearby, then realized he was the one she was smiling at.

He could hear Mason talking to him, but couldn't understand a word he was saying. All he could concentrate on was her. His mouth dropped open, as she stood in front of him, telling him hey.

When he didn't say anything back, she lowered her eyebrows in confusion. He wasn't usually the quiet type the few other times she or any of her friends had been around him. But there again her friends did have a bad habit of kidnapping him and having talks of murdering him. He was probably just scared of what she was going to say to him.

Hoping to put him at ease, she flashed him another friendly smile, then turned to his friend, and said,"Hi, I'm Teagan."

"Mason." His friend said back.

"Nice to meet you." Teagan said. She glanced over at the silent freshmen, then looked back at Mason, as she added,"Do you mind if I borrow your friend for a minute?"

"Uh, yeah, that's fine." Mason said, confused on why the older girl wanted to talk to Liam. He turned to look at his friend, as he added,"If Liam wants to."

"Y-Yeah, it's cool. I'll catch up with you." Liam finally said, as he slapped Mason on his back, then began to follow Teagan like a lost puppy, never taking his eyes off of her.

They took a few steps from Mason, standing off to the side, as students walked pass them. Teagan opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Liam glanced over her shoulder, seeing Isaac standing not far away, causing his eyes to widen and shift around uncomfortable.

Teagan looked in the direction he did, seeing Isaac staring at them with his arms folded over his chest. She shot him a look, as if telling him to relax and to back off. She wouldn't be able to get Liam to listen to her if he was standing there with murder in his eyes.

When he shook his head at her, refusing to budge, she turned back to look at Liam. She reached out to grab his shirt sleeve, then began to walk away from Isaac. Turning a corner so Liam couldn't see him, but he could still hear what they were saying.

"Liam, first off, I just want to apologize to you on behalf of my friends about last night." Teagan began to say, as she flashed him a small smile. "It might not seem like it, but we were just trying to help you."

"With what? What is with all of you? There is nothing wrong with me!" Liam snapped, causing her to flinch. His face soften when he saw how he scared her. He hated that he scared her, but he couldn't understand what her friends problem with him lately.

He saw her mouth something, but couldn't read her lips. He didn't realize she was letting Isaac know she was okay. She knew if she didn't say anything, he would come flying around the corner and seriously hurt the younger boy.

Realizing she wasn't going to be able to get through to him right now, she decided to lie to get him to the lake house. He was already on edge and trying to convince him of what he is now would just set him off more. Right now, she just needed to get him to the lake house and hopefully between all of them they could convince him to stay locked up that night.

"Listen, we uh..." She began to say, as she gave a light chuckle. "We were just joking around and it got out of hand. Kinda of like a lacrosse initiation " She lied.

She clapped her hands, as another laugh escape, before saying,"Good news through, you passed!"

"Passed what?" Liam asked confused.

"The uh, the initiation." Teagan stated. "Woo-hoo." She half heartily added, as she threw up her arms in a little cheer.

As he gave her a weird look, she lowered her arms and cleared her throat, as she added,"Anyways, we're having a party tonight. You have to come."

When she saw him shake his head, then open his mouth to decline the offer, she decided to pull a 'Avery', as she stated,"You're coming."

She held out her hand, as she said,"Give me your phone."

He shot her a confused look, but couldn't deny her, as he reached into his pockets to pull out his cell phone before handing it to her. She typed in her number, then handed it back to him, as she said,"Text me your address later and be ready by 8."

"But I-"

"See you tonight!" Teagan called out, as she brushed past him and turned the corner. She skid to a stop when she saw Isaac standing there, leaning against the wall holding their books.

"So, not only did you have to talk to him, which was a bad idea, but now you are picking him up tonight and driving him there... Which is also a very bad idea." Isaac stated.

"I didn't know what else to do to get him there, so I had to pull a Avery and force him to come." Teagan said. "At least I didn't threaten to handcuff us together." She added with a laugh, reminding him of the time Avery did that to him.

"Hell no. I would definitely put my foot down on that." Isaac said, as he grabbed her hand and the two began to walk down the hall toward their next class. "Those cuffs are just for us, which we will be using very soon. I still need to tell about the ice cream thing by the way. We're doing that too."

Teagan chuckled at his words, as she said,"Let's get through this full moon and then we'll talk about handcuffs and ice cream."

"This day needs to be over fast." Isaac mumbled, as the two walked into a class room together.

**~()~**

Deputy Parrish rubbed his eyes after what felt like hours of staring at a computer screen. Reaching forward he pushed the button on the front on the monitor, darkening the screen on the desktop before turning and looking out of the window near the desk he was at.

Just as he started to look away he saw Avery's fly into the parking lot and quickly whip into a parking space. He wondered what the teenager was doing there and hoped everything was okay but his eyes widened in surprise and confusion when the driver's door opened and he saw Derek Hale step out.

Moments later the passenger door swung open and Avery got out, the pair stood by the car talking for a moment before she handed something and they headed for the entrance.

Once they were inside Derek and Avery went in search of the sheriff, she gave Parrish a friendly wave as she saw the worried look he was giving her from across the station.

As they rounded a corner Avery told Derek she'd catch up with him, he gave her a confused expression but she just offered a soft smile before turning and heading back the opposite way. She'd seen the worried look on Deputy Parrish's face and she was going to find him to let him know she was okay.

But on her way she ran right into someone, "Oh my god, I'm so sorry…" Her apology trailed off as her eyes narrowed when she saw it was Deputy Haigh, the same one who'd tasered young Derek and then roughly handcuffed her.

He looked around trying to figure out where she came from and wondered what she was even doing in there.

"No, I'm not sorry." She quickly corrected.

"Yeah?" He asked, immediately angered by all of the disrespect the teenager showed him, "You should be…" His voice and threat trailed off as his gaze drifted behind her and she saw his eyes widen slightly.

Confused, she looked over her shoulder to Derek standing behind her, an angry expression on his face with his arms crossed over his chest –challenging Haigh to finish his threat.

"Avery. Derek." The sheriff called out as he nodded for them to come into his office so they could talk privately.

Derek and Avery followed the sheriff into his office and explained to him what had happened at the loft with the axe murderer with no mouth had attacked Peter with a wolfsbane laced tomahawk.

Looking at the glove they brought him the sheriff said, "I still don't get how this guy has no mouth. H-how can he eat?"

Glancing up to the ceiling at how they'd just been asked the most irrelevant question in the world, Derek reminded him, "Well, Peter didn't get a chance to ask he was fighting him off with a tomahawk buried in his chest."

Avery looked down and stifled a laugh at Derek's response and the look on the sheriff's face.

"Who runs around with a tomahawk?" The sheriff wondered out loud.

Avery looked over to the door to the office open and Deputy Parrish walked in. The pair glanced at each other for a moment before the young deputy spoke up, "I carried one for IED removal in Afghanistan, it's military." He explained, then looked at the glove the sheriff was holding and said, "And so is that."

"Do you know what it's used for?" Derek asked as he looked between Parrish and Avery.

"Well, this one looks like it's been modified…"

Nodding for him to shut the door behind him Sheriff Stilinski instructed, "Show us."

After hooking up a USB cord to the keypad device on the glove Parrish sat down at the desk and got to work trying to get an IP address on where the signals for the device were coming from.

Derek and the sheriff leaned back against the wall and some filing cabinets, while Avery hovered close to desk, leaning over Parrish's shoulder to watch the computer screen as he worked.

As she leaned in closer she brushed against him and the subtle familiar notes of her perfume hit his nose, making it hard for him to stay focused on the task at hand.

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye he quietly cleared his throat, she looked over at him with a confused expression before quickly standing up and putting distance between them as she apologized, "Sorry… I have a bad habit of hovering."

Looking over to Derek and feeling like she needed to keep talking she continued to ramble, "It always makes Lydia so mad." Derek raised his eyebrows at her and she let out a small laugh before avoiding everyone's eye contact.

A few moments later Parrish said, "I think I've got an IP address."

Avery rushed forward hovering back over his left side to look at the computer and the sheriff stepped up to his other side as he leaned down over the desk and asked, "That means we can find him, right?"

The young deputy's body tensed up as he glanced over to see with the way she was leaning over him that her exposed cleavage from the top of her low cut, skin tight shirt was right next to his face.

"Parrish?" The sheriff asked loudly when he didn't respond.

"Yes, sir?" Parrish said, trying to focus on the task at hand and not think about the few times he and the blonde teen had kissed.

Clearing his own throat Derek said, "The IP address means we can locate this guy, right?" Parrish glanced over to see Derek slowly walking towards the desk in the slightly shadowed room with his arms crossed over his chest as he stood next to Avery and continued to stare at him.

"Definitely." Parrish said, diverting his attention from Avery before adding, "Especially if he's on the server right now."

The glove laying on the desk made a noise as the fingers moved slightly and everyone's attention snapped to the glove.

"What was that?" Derek asked.

The computer beeped and Parrish read the screen as he asked, "I think I found a message… does anyone recognize the handle; benefactor?"

With another beep of the computer Derek stepped closer and read the newest message out loud, "Money transferred, what does that mean?"

"Oh my god!" Avery exclaimed as she realized it meant that their mute axe murderer wasn't just a killer, he was a hired gun.

"What?" Derek asked again.

"It means this guy isn't just a killer…" Avery said blowing out a heavy breath as she stood up and realized if the mute went after Derek, it meant someone had paid him to kill the werewolf.

"He's an assassin." The sheriff finished as he looked at the rest of the group.

"Parrish, did you get an IP on this guy?" He asked, quickly snapping into action.

Moments later the young deputy explained that whoever it was –was currently connected to the school's wifi.

Parrish offered to go with the sheriff to check the school out, but he declined saying that they had it covered –leaving the deputy confused as to why the sheriff was choosing to take Derek and Avery with him but not any police backup.

The sheriff got into his police cruiser as Derek and Avery headed for her car and said they'd follow him there, her phone went off from her pocket with a text from Parrish telling her to be careful. With a small smile she slid her phone back into her pocket and got into the passenger seat of her car as Derek got behind the wheel.

**~()~**

Later that night, Teagan stopped the car in front of the house that Liam's address led her to. She blew out a nervous breath, then reached out to open the door before stepping out into the cool night.

She knew driving him to the lake house was all her idea, but that didn't mean she wasn't a little nervous. Isaac offered to go with her, but she turned the offer down. Isaac has made it known how he felt about Liam and being stuck in a car with two werewolves on a full moon was probably not the best idea ever.

He did insist on her keeping in contact with him though. Isaac knew he was probably being over protective and paranoid, but he had to know everything was okay. She was trained well and could take down a new werewolf with no problem, but he still worried about her.

As if on cue, she heard her cell phone go off, letting her know she had a new text message. She pulled her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and smiled when she saw it was from Isaac.

He told her they were leaving for the lake house and asked how things were going. She told him she was at Liam's house now. He told her to be careful and he would see her soon. Then as if knowing how badly she needed to hear it, he texted out,'it's you and me.'

She texted the phrase back to him, then placed her phone back into her pocket, as she made her way up the porch stairs. While she was texting earlier, she noticed she was a few minutes early, but hoped he was still ready. The sooner they could get him locked up the better.

She reached out to ring the door bell, then nervously tapped her foot as she waited for someone to answer it. When the door swung open, she smiled, as she saw an older man standing on the other side.

"Hi, I'm here for Liam."

"Teagan, right?" The man asked. When she nodded her head, he opened the door wider and invited her in, as he said,"Liam will be down shortly. Tonight is all he could talk about."

As she gave him a small smile, he held out his hand, as he said,"I'm sorry, where are my manners. I'm his step-dad."

"It's nice to meet you, sir." She said, as she shook his hand.

"It's nice to meet you too, and thank you for inviting Liam out." He said, then added,"It's nice to see him branching out and making more friends. I had a feeling joining the lacrosse team would be a good way to meet more people."

Teagan nodded her head in agreement, as she said,"Yeah just about everyone shows up at the games. It's hard not to meet people."

"I remember that's how it was when I was in school." He stated.

As the two slipped into a silence, Teagan glanced around the room while he stared at her. The longer he looked at her, the more he thought about how she resembled someone he knew back when he was in college.

When Teagan turned her head back to see him looking at her, she shifted from one foot to the other, feeling a little uncomfortable. He flashed her a smile when he saw the look on her face.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to stare, but you look like someone I knew." He said. "Back in college, this woman was in a few of my classes and we were in the same study group once. You look a little like her. Her name was Lisa.."

Before he could finish his sentence, her saw her eyes widen as a small gasp escaped. "I take it you know who I am talking about?" He guessed.

"She was my uh, my mother." Teagan softly said, feeling her heart pounding. She never expected to be reminded of her mother when she showed up. "Every one says I looked like her."

Hearing her talk about her mother in past tense and seeing the look on her face, he assumed that meant she had died. He's seen that same look anytime he had to tell a family member the bad news about their loved one.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said. "Your mother was a very kind woman. You know how you can meet someone and understand why they went into the profession they did?" He paused for a moment, then after she nodded her head, he continued,"After meeting your mother, I could see why she choose to be a nurse. She always went above and beyond to help anyone."

Teagan softly smiled, it had been awhile since someone other than her father spoke kindly about her mother, and after being haunted by her months ago, the good stories were nice to hear.

"I remember one time, I wasn't feeling well and she gave me this mixture of herbs to drink. She said she got them from her best friend. I asked her what was in it, but she wouldn't tell me. She just said it would make me better and to trust her and I did." He said, then added,"I was glad I did, cause hours later I felt better. It was hard not to trust her. She just had this calming presence about her, like you just knew you could trust her."

"Yeah, she uh, she could always calm me. Ever since I was a baby." Teagan said, her voice thick with emotion. She felt tears fill her eyes, as she thought about all the times her mother dried the tears from her eyes when she was upset, then thought about how many time she was the cause of her tears months ago when she was haunting her. It was hard to believe it was the same woman who tortured her for weeks.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." He began to say, when he saw the look on her face.

Teagan shook her head, as she flashed him a small smile, as she said,"It's okay. Seriously, thank you for telling me about her."

As he nodded his head, they heard Liam began to walk down the stairs. As he began to talk to his step dad, she quickly turned her head, wiping the tears from her eyes. She had a job to do and couldn't get distracted.

She turned her head back, flashing a smile at Liam, as she asked him if he was ready. After he nodded his head, they told his step dad bye, as the two walked out of the house and over to the car.

Teagan sat down in the driver seat, placing her hands on the wheel, as she let out a quiet sigh. Liam slipped on the seat belt, then turned to look at her, hearing the low sigh from her lips.

"Are you okay?" Liam questioned, as he shot her a concern look.

"Hmm?" Teagan said, coming out of her thoughts. She turned her head to look at him, then realizing he heard her, she shook her head, then said,"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You don't look fine." Liam pointed out.

"Wow, thanks, Liam." She said sarcastically with a slight chuckle.

"No, I-I didn't mean it that way. You look..." He began to say, as he looked her over, realizing exactly how great she did look. He quickly turned his head away, knowing she had a serious boyfriend; a serious boyfriend who looked like he wanted to murder him every time he looked at her.

"You look okay." He softly added. "I just mean, it looks like something is bothering you."

He lowered his eyebrows in confusion for a moment when he heard her heart racing. He turned his head to look at her, realizing there was no way he could have heard that.

"Something is bothering you." He stated, as he looked at her closely. He noticed her eyes tearing up and her lip twitching as if she was trying to keep from crying.

"It's-It's nothing." Teagan said, as she turned on to a back road, the dark woods surrounding them.

When she noticed him still watching her from the corner of her eye, she turned her head to look at him, flashing him a smile, as she said,"Seriously, I'm fine."

He nodded his head, not wanting to push her. He didn't know her well enough to do something like that. He was hoping one day they could become closer and become friends. The rest of her friends he wasn't sure about at the moment, not after the kidnapping and threats, even if she did say it was all a joke.

He thought back to that night on the roof at the hospital. There was a lot he saw that night that made no sense, but his step dad did give him some pain killers for his leg, so maybe he just imagined it all. But then he thought back to some of the things they said. If it was all a joke, what did Scott mean by the bite was a gift and why did Avery threaten him so much.

As all the confusing thoughts crossed his mind, he felt his anger getting to him. He had problems with his temper often, but tonight it felt worst. It's like he could feel it all coursing through his veins, but he didn't want to lose it. The last time he lost it really bad he was kicked out of school and had to start all over. He didn't want that again.

He grabbed on to the handle on the car door, as his began to take several deep breaths. Teagan glanced over at him for a moment, then felt her eyes widen when she saw the way he looked. He looked like he was seconds from wolfing out and she was still about ten minutes away from the lake house.

Knowing she needed to get him to calm down now or they wouldn't make it, she quickly pulled off of the road, parking her car on the side. After turning the car off, she turned in her seat to look at him, as she softly called out his name.

"Liam..." She tried again when he ignored her the first time. She raised one of her hands, planning to lay it on his arm to comfort him, then paused for a moment, unsure how he would react.

When she saw him hunch over, breathing deeply, she decided to lay a hand on his back. "Hey, Liam, it's okay. Just listen to my voice, okay?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and nodded his head at her words. She ran her hand in a circular motion, as she said,"Now take a deep breath."

She waited until he did what she said, then added,"Okay good, now slowly blow it out."

She told him to do that a few more times until she could tell he was starting to relax. Once his anger melted away, he turned his head to look at her. A confused look on his face, as he asked,"What just happened?"

She opened her mouth to answer but before she could say a word, she heard her cell phone began to ring. She took the phone out of her pocket, seeing that it was Isaac calling.

"I need to take this, but just sit right here, okay? Just keep breathing and I'll be right back." She stated, as she threw her door open and stepped out.

She walked down the road some, putting some distance between herself and the car, glancing back behind her a couple of times to make sure he was going to stay in the car before she answered the call.

"Hey, where are you?" Isaac asked, as soon as she answered.

"About ten minutes away." Teagan answered.

"What is taking so long? I thought you would be here by now." Isaac said back.

"I would be, but I had to make a stop." Teagan said. "I'll be back on the road soon."

"What stop? What is going on?" Isaac asked, thinking the worst. Before she could answer, he began to pace back and forth, as he added,"Damn it, I knew this was a bad idea."

"What is going on?" Teagan asked, wondering what had him so upset. She could tell it was more than just her bringing Liam to the lake house.

"Stiles found why Liam was kicked out of his last school." Isaac said. "He's got major anger issues. I'm talking about 'crowbar to his teacher's car' anger issues." He blew out a breath, as he added,"The kid is seriously bad news and now you're stuck all alone with him and I-"

"Isaac, hey, listen to me." Teagan said interrupted his rant. "I'm okay. Everything is okay."

"Just get here to me, okay?" Isaac breathed out. He just needed her there, needed to see with his own eyes that she was okay like she said. As soon as Stiles told them about Liam's anger problems, he felt his heart drop. The little punk had a problem turning on people and now he was all alone with Teagan. What if she said or did something and he turned on her?

"I'll be there soon, I promise." Teagan said with a smile. "Just stay calm, nothing is going to happen." She added, trying to keep him calm. She knew he needed to keep his own anger under control, especially since there was a full moon.

"I'm coming back to you, Isaac." She added, hearing him blow out a calming breath at her words.

"It's you and me." He softly said, feeling more at ease.

"It's you and me." She said back, as she ended the call.

She looked down at her phone for a moment, a smile on her face, then turned around to face the car. She jumped back in surprise, when she saw Liam standing in front of her.

"Jeez, you scared the shit out me!" Teagan snapped, as she laid a hand over her heart.

"I'm sorry, I just-I thought I heard something. Wanted to make sure you were okay." Liam said. He wasn't sure what he had heard, but he knew he heard something in the woods.

"What did you hear?" Teagan asked, as she glanced around, feeling uneasy for a moment.

"I don't know." Liam answered. He lowered his eyebrows when he thought he heard something again, like something running near by. He opened his mouth to say something else, but before he could, they saw a squirrel dart across the road, causing them both to jump in surprise.

Teagan let out a small laugh, as she said,"Well guess that is what you heard." She nodded toward the car, as she said,"Come on, let's get to the party."

"Who'd you say was coming to this party?" Liam asked, as they both walked toward the car.

"Everyone!" Teagan answered, as she opened the car door and slide behind the wheel; not seeing Liam sending out a text to his friend, telling him about the big party that night.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you all so much for reading! We hope you all liked the chapter.**

**Thank you to SmellYourScentForMiles and xxxRena for being dolls and reviewing chapter 16! ^_^**


	18. Full Moon

**Chapter Eighteen – Full Moon**

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><p>Derek pulled to a stop at a red light and looked over to Avery who was riding in the passenger seat of the car, her legs tucked up under her as she stared down to cellphone waiting on any news about how her pack was handling the Liam situation.<p>

"What was Peter saying to you at my loft earlier?" He questioned.

Darkening the screen on her phone she thought back to what he'd been saying, taunting her about Kate but she didn't feel like rehashing all of that so she said, "Not that much… mainly just Peter rambling, you know how he loves the sound of his own voice."

"I know." He nodded, looking back over to her before taking in breath as he said, "Just don't forget this is Peter… don't trust him."

"Why would I trust him?" Avery asked with a laugh at the idea

Derek shrugged as he admitted, "I don't know… he said something the other day, about how with all of your training that you might be our best shot at finding, Kate. And I know how he is… he always finds a way to twist his way into someone's head."

Avery thought back to what Peter had been telling her at the loft and it made sense now, that he was trying to get under her skin to use her to find Kate. And as much as she knew that, there was still a part of her that knew what he'd said worked, because all she wanted to do now was find Kate and kill her before she could screw up their lives any worse.

"What if he's right?" She quietly asked looking over at him.

"He's no, this is Peter we're talking about." Derek quickly argued with a heavy sigh.

"So you what… don't think I can do it?" She questioned.

"Are we seriously going to fight about this?" He questioned looking over at her as he drove her car.

"We're not fighting, I'm just saying maybe Peter has a point." She said so quietly he could barely hear her.

"And I'm saying he doesn't. This is Peter!" Derek loudly exclaimed, making Avery realize that they now were indeed –fighting.

"Kate's out there, okay? She's running around town protected by her berserkers and she has a lot of power, Derek. I've been doing my homework and there are rituals to do to make berserkers, but it takes an incredible amount of power to not only create one but to control them. She has to be stopped." Avery argued.

"I know she's out there and I hate it. But we can't just kill her… not yet." He argued, causing Avery's jaw to drop as she asked, "Why the hell not?"

"Because I need to figure out what Kate did to me." He admitted to her as they neared the school.

"You mean with your eyes?" Avery questioned.

His grip tightened on the steering wheel and he shook his head not wanting to tell her what was going on but also knowing he'd managed to hurt her bad enough.

"I… I don't think it's just affecting the color of my eyes." He quietly said, his words demanded her full attention as continued, "I'm starting to notice other things too…"

"Like?" Avery pushed feeling her heart starting to race from fear.

"Like… how I didn't know you and Peter were in my loft until I walked in because I couldn't hear you guys talking from downstairs or even from the hallway." He admitted to her. Not wanting to worry but also knowing he shouldn't lie to her.

"Oh my god!" She gasped, "You're saying you're losing your werewolf senses?"

"Kind of, maybe… I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Her words were laced with worry and fear.

"I mean that I couldn't hear you guys then but I can hear your heart racing right now. It sort of comes and goes." Derek explained as they pulled onto the road the school was located on.

"I've read tons of stuff on werewolves… on everything supernatural actually, but I've never read about anything like that." She breathed out running her hands through her hair. "I think I've gone through all of my mom's journals… I even found really old family journals but I'll keep digging, there has to be something we can do."

"I didn't tell you this because I wanted help. This isn't your problem." He pointed out as he pulled into a parking spot next to the sheriff.

"Too bad, you're getting my help anyways." She asserted as she started to open her door than paused, "Not that I'll be much help but I'm going to try."

"Avery…" He sighed in protest as he shook his head back and forth at her.

"It's what friends do… they help each other." She simply called out before shutting the door behind her and going to talk to the sheriff.

Derek stayed in the car for a few moments longer as what she said sunk in and he knew it maybe shouldn't have bothered him as much as it did, but he hated the way she said '_it's what friends do'_. He didn't just want to be her friend, he wanted more – a lot more.

**~()~**

Teagan parked her car behind Stiles' jeep, then turned the car off. She turned her head to look at Liam, shooting him a friendly smile, before opening the door and stepping out of the car.

As he stepped out after her, he glanced around, only seeing the jeep and Scott's bike. He looked back over at Teagan, as he questioned,"Where is everyone?"

"They're coming." Teagan lied. "Trust me, there are two types of parties you never want to miss... a Lydia Martin party and a Avery Dukate party."

"And which party is this?" Liam asked, curios.

"A Lydia party." Teagan answered, as she walked toward the house. She turned around, taking a few more steps, as she joked,"You're not ready for a Avery Dukate party yet."

Liam chuckled at her comment as she watched her turn back around and jog up the porch steps. He went up the steps behind her, then walked up to stand beside her, his shoulder brushing against hers, as she reached out to open the front door.

She gestured for him to go in first, causing him to turn his head to look at her, a smile on his face, as he stepped over the threshold. As he walked further into the house, he turned around, skidding to a stop when he saw the others; Isaac, Scott, Kira, Lydia, Malia and Stiles standing there.

When Stiles gave him a small, awkward wave, he turned back to look at Teagan; who had shut the door and was leaned back against it so he couldn't get out. He shot her a look, feeling betrayed. He should known this was too good to be true as soon as she spoke to him at school. She had no intentions of being his friend, she just wanted to trick him.

"What did you do?" He growled out at the brunette, as he took a step toward her.

"Hey!" Isaac called out, getting the younger boy's attention. "Take another step toward her and I'll make you regret it."

"Isaac..." Scott began to say, as he grabbed his arm and pulled him back to stand beside him. They didn't need to start the night off by threatening Liam again, they needed to get through to him, make him listen for once.

Isaac blew out a breath, trying to control his anger. He glanced over at Teagan; who gave him a nod, letting him know she was okay. He gave her a nod back, as he folded his arms across his chest, waiting for the others to get this thing started.

"What the hell is this?" Liam barked, as he looked over at the others.

"Think of it like an intervention." Stiles said. "You have a problem, Liam."

"And we're the only ones that can help." Scott added, as he locked eyes with his first beta. As alpha, he knew it was his job to step up and get the younger boy to listen. If he couldn't get him to stay locked up for the night and something happened, he would never forgive himself.

"Liam..." Scott began to say, as he took a step toward him. "You are more than just a regular freshman now. You're different." He turned his head to look at all this friends, nodding toward them, as he added,"Just like us. We're all different."

"What do you mean different?" Liam asked confused.

Scott began to go down the row, naming off what he was, what Lydia, Malia and Kira was, but before he could say anything else, Liam cut him off.

"Whoa, wait, wait a minute." He interrupted. "You mean to tell me you're a werewolf?" He questioned, as he looked at Scott.

When the alpha nodded his head, he pointed to Malia as he said,"Werecoyote..." He looked over at Lydia and said,"Banshee."

He turned his head back to look at Kira; who was standing on Scott's other side, as he lowered his eyebrows in confusion and questioned,"Fox?"

"Kitsune. But fox works." Kira answered.

"What are you?" Liam asked, as he looked over at Stiles.

"Uh, for a little while, I was possessed by an evil spirit. It was very evil." Stiles said nervously.

"What are you now?" He asked.

"Better." Stiles answered, unsure how to answer the question any other way.

"Anything else? Vampires? Dragons?" Liam asked sarcastically.

"Well, Avery is an Imperium." Teagan spoke up, getting his attention.

He turned back around to look at her, his back toward the others, as he asked,"What the hell is that? And what the hell are you?" He took a step toward her, ignoring Isaac's earlier warning, as he sarcastically said,"Let me guess, some kind of magically fairy."

"This isn't a joke, Liam." Teagan said, as she shook her head.

"Does it look like I'm laughing?" Liam yelled out, causing her to flinch. "I believed you, you know?" He added, as he took another step toward her. "I trusted you. Even after what your friends did, I still trusted you, but you're just as bad as they are, you-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt someone grab the back of his jacket, pulling him backwards until his back slammed into a wall. He glanced up not at all surprised to see that it was Isaac.

The smart choice would have been to keep his mouth shut, but he couldn't. His anger was starting to get the best of him again, as he heard his own heart racing. He pushed himself from the wall, walking up to Isaac, as he snapped,"And what are you? Other than an over protective, jealous, boyfriend."

Isaac gave a bitter chuckle, as he took a step closer to Liam. He felt his eyes flashing for a moment, as he said,"Try pissed off."

Liam took a quick step back when he saw his eye flash yellow. He pointed at him, as he said,"How did you do that?"

Scott stepped up in between Liam and Isaac, trying to put a stop to their arguing. He turned his attention to Liam, as he said,"You'll learn. But first, you need to get through the full moon."

"The moon's already out." Liam pointed out, trying to show how crazy all of this was. If they were all some kind of 'were-somethings' that changed during the full moon, why did they all look normal while the moon was already out?

As his heart began to pound harder, he glanced around the room, looking at all of them and trying to make sense of everything they were saying.

He looked behind him at Teagan; who was still guarding the door, and felt his temper getting the best of him as he remembered how she tricked him. He felt stupid and embarrassed, and now all of them were staring at him and he couldn't take it any longer. He couldn't take the look she was giving him, the look all of them were giving him.

As his breathing became labored, Scott shot him a concern look, as he asked,"And you're starting to feel something, aren't you?"

"I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of psychotic nutjobs. You guys are out of your freaking minds." Liam snapped. He took a few steps away from them, as he looked over at Isaac, pointing at him, as he stated,"I don't know how you did that eye thing and I don't care." He addressed everyone, as he yelled,"I'm walking out the door right now!"

He turned to walk toward the door, then came to a stop when he saw Teagan wasn't going to move. She shook her head, as she said,"I'm sorry, Liam." She was apologizing for more than just not letting him leave, she was also apologizing for tricking him, but she was honestly just trying to help. She hoped one day he would be able to understand that.

"If you don't get the hell out of my way, I swear to God, I'm gonna-"

Before he could finish his threat toward her, he screamed out in pain and grabbed the side of his head. Teagan yelled out his name, feeling concern for him, as she went to run toward him. She hoped she could calm him down like she did earlier, but before she could reach him, Isaac wrapped an arm around her waist, stopping her in her tracks. He carried her into another room that was beside the living room, getting her away from Liam and the others, giving them some privacy.

"Isaac..." She began to say, as she looked up at him in surprise. "Someone needs to help him. I-"

"Then let someone else do it." Isaac snapped. His own anger from the full moon was getting to him. He already hated her being involved when it came to Liam. Then watching the young beta threaten her was enough for him. She tried to help him, he was a dick in return so in his opinion that was it. It was time for them to step back and let the others handle it.

"No." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "We are all here to help Liam. The others, as well as you and me."

"I'm not here for Liam. I could care less about Liam. I'm here for you!" Isaac stated. "Anything I ever do, is for you, Teagan. Just you!" He yelled.

"Isaac..." She softly said, hoping her voice would calm him, but the full moon was affecting him too badly at the moment. He couldn't even hear her, all he could hear was his own heart pounding in fear as he thought about all the different times Liam could have hurt her; at school earlier that day, on the drive over there, as well as minutes before when he kept yelling at her and walking toward her. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became.

"I know it is in your nature to help people, but not everyone can be helped, Teagan." He reached out to grab her arm, squeezing it a little harder than he meant to, as he snarled out,"You tried and you failed with Liam, and now it's time to walk away."

"Isaac, let go." Teagan said, trying to remain calm. She knew this wasn't really Isaac, that it was just the full moon, but in all honesty he was starting to scare her a little.

When she tried to pull her arm away, he squeezed harder, causing her to whimper out in pain, as she said,"Isaac, you're hurting me."

"You can't save everyone, Teagan! Some of us are not worth it!" He snapped, speaking more about himself than anything. He knew what he was doing now was wrong, but his anger was too out of control and he couldn't stop himself.

"Isaac..." Teagan breathed out, as she jerk her arm again, this time successfully pulling it away, but unfortunately his claws were out when she pulled, causing him to scratch her forearm.

She looked down at her arm in shock, then raised her watery eyes to look at him, watching him take a quick step back at her as he finally came out of the anger induced daze he was under.

"Teagan... I'm-I'm so sorry, I..." Isaac began to say, as he saw her placed her hand over the cuts.

Without another word, he turned and fled from the room. He couldn't stand to see the disappointed look in her eyes a minute longer. Or maybe it was his own disappointment reflecting in her eyes, either way he couldn't be around her. He didn't deserve to be, not after he had lost his temper with her again.

She always said the other time wasn't his fault, even though he never agreed with that. That time she was possessed by her mom and trying to hurt him, at first he was just trying to stop her, but then it turned into something else. It turned into him liking it, it turned into him wanting to hurt her, and just now, he had that same feeling wash over him.

This time started with just wanting to protect her, he didn't want Liam to hurt her, but then between the threats, the full moon and catching a whiff of Liam's scent on her, he lost it and he couldn't stop himself. He knew it was wrong, but while he was yelling at her, he saw the fear in her eyes and he liked it. He liked having that power over her, but now that thought sickened him.

He heard her calling after him, wanting him to come back, but he ignored her as he made her way up the stairs and far away from her. He found a dark room to hide in, leaving him along with his dark thoughts and guilt.

**~()~**

Teagan yelled out for Isaac, then hissed out in pain, as she looked back down at the cuts on her arm. It had been awhile since he had lost control like that on a full moon. She knew if he was in his right mind, he would have never yelled at her or hurt her, but she could already imagine all the guilt he was feeling for his actions.

She was about to rush out of the room to find him, needing to tell him it was okay, but before she could take a step, she heard Lydia calling out for her. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion when she heard the sound of multiple cars pulling up outside.

She turned and ran back into the living room, noticing everyone but Lydia was gone. She looked around, as she asked,"Where is everyone? What the hell is going on?"

"Scott and Kira took Liam to the boathouse, and Stiles is chaining Malia up in the basement." Lydia answered. When she noticed Isaac wasn't with her she asked where he was. The two were usually attached at the hip and it was unusually to see one without the other.

Before Teagan could answer, Lydia glanced down at her arm. She walked over to her, taking her arm in her hand, as she asked,"What happened?"

"The full moon happened." Teagan answered with a sigh.

Before either girl could say anything else, they heard the doorbell ring, causing both girls to look at the door for a moment. Teagan turned her head back to look at Lydia, as she asked,"Who are all these people showing up?"

"Apparently Liam invited his little freshmen friends." Lydia said, as an annoyed look appeared on her face. The look quickly disappeared when she looked back down at Teagan's arm, then said,"Go get that bandaged up, okay?"

Teagan nodded her head, then asked,"But are you going to be okay with that many people alone?"

"Of course." Lydia said. "Despite what Avery thinks, I'm the real party queen. No one does a party better than Lydia Martin."

"Says the girl who poisoned us all with wolfbane during her last party." Teagan joked.

"That was not my fault." Lydia pointed out. She nodded her head toward the doorway leading out of the living room, as she added,"Now go. Go get cleaned up then go find that boyfriend of yours so you two can make up."

"How did you-"

"Oh, T, it is never heard to tell when you two are having problems." Lydia interrupted. "But whatever happened, things will be okay." She gave her a smile, as she added,"Oh and when you do find him, tell him I know he would never hurt you on purpose, but if he does it again, I'm gonna have to pound on him a little."

Teagan chuckled at the comment, as she gave her a nod, then turned to leave the living room and head for the bathroom. She remembered there was one near the kitchen and if she remembered right there was always a first aid kit under the sink

**~()~**

As the trio neared the school's entrance Avery saw the sheriff draw his gun and she said, "Are you sure you don't want me to get a gun? I have some hidden in my car."

"I heard you the first five times." He sighed as he clicked on a flashlight, "The answer is still no."

"But…" She started to argue.

"Avery, we don't know what we're walking into and if I have to call for backup while we're inside you're going to have a hell of a time explaining away a gun." He pointed out his voice as he spoke the teenager.

She nodded and reached for the door pulling it open as he kept his gun and flashlight out in front of him to illuminate the hallway they were walking into.

After several steps into the dimly lit school, Derek pointed out, "You know, just cause this guy connected to the school's wifi doesn't mean he's here now."

"True." The sheriff nodded, "But I've seen enough in this school to keep a gun in my hand while walking in after dark."

They moved a little farther in and Avery cocked her head to the side as she asked, "Like blood?"

The other two looked down to see a puddle of blood on the floor from underneath a closed classroom door.

As Sheriff Stilinski kept the beam of his flashlight on the crimson pool, the trio edged closer Avery looked to Derek and asked, "Is it human or animal?"

"I don't know… I should have caught the scent before we walked in." He answered as he looked over his shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed.

Derek and Avery walked up to the door and she watched as he started to open it until the sheriff raced forward and stopped then, "Whoa! Wait, hold on." His gaze focused on Derek as he pointed out, "Seeing you nervous, makes me nervous."

Stepping in front of Derek and Avery to block them from any danger he kept his gun pointed at the door with one hand then slowly pulled it open a crack with his other hand to reveal a trip wire wrapped around the handle.

Leaning in some for a better look Derek exclaimed in a slightly hushed and unsure voice, "It's an explosive… a claymore."

Avery's eyes widened and she looked behind them to see the man with no mouth on the stairs with a tomahawk raised in his hand.

"Get down!" She shouted as she knocked both Derek and the sheriff to the floor just in time as the mute expertly threw the tomahawk where it lodged in the bright wall right behind where Derek's head would have been.

Avery checked on the sheriff who was holding onto the arm he'd landed on in pain, while Derek fought against the mute dodging one swing of the axe after another.

Finally he was able to knock the axe out of his hand and throw him the ground, there was another scuffle and Avery looked up to see the man trying to go after Derek with another axe.

Quickly she picked up the sheriffs gun and pointed it at the man but just as she placed her finger on the trigger Derek managed to overpower him and pin his arms behind his back.

The mute man stopped struggling as he saw Avery now had a gun pointed at his face.

"Avery?" Derek questioned as he kept the man pinned.

"Give me the gun." Sheriff Stilinski said as he got to his feet and walked up beside her.

She stared at the man with no mouth and their eyes locked, he didn't need a mouth to say how he was feeling at the point; looking into his eyes she knew he wasn't going to stop.

"You think a normal jail is going to hold his animal?" She questioned, her hand still on the gun –trigger finger at the ready.

"Give me the gun." Sheriff Stilinski repeated, his eyes stayed glued on the teenager who was holding the gun perfectly still, not trembling or flinching at the thought of taking that man's life.

"He's not going to stop." She argued.

"Avery, just give him the gun." Derek loudly said getting her attention as he pointed out, "You don't have to kill him."

She locked eyes with the mouthless stranger one last time before spinning the gun in her hand and holding it for the sheriff with the handle towards him.

Quickly he took the weapon with a sigh of relief before pointing at the mute and starting to read him his rights before circling around behind him next to Derek as they started to handcuff the stranger.

But before they could Derek looked up to see his uncle walk into the hallway with them.

"No, no!" Derek yelled as Peter turned to face them.

When the wolf started running full speed at them, Derek yelled, "No, Peter, don't!" But when it became clear that Peter had a one track mind for revenge he pushed the sheriff out of the way knocking them both to the ground just in time as Peter tackled the mute.

As he raised his claws and started to slash away at the man's body, Avery took a few steps backwards away from them as the blood started to fly and spatter on the lockers lining the hallway.

Once the man was dead she saw Peter's fangs retract as he glanced at her before standing up with his skin and clothes now saturated in blood.

Angrily the sheriff turned his weapon on the werewolf as he rose to his feet and stared the officer down as he retrieved a cloth from his pocket and began to wipe his bloody hands off.

Looking between them Avery saw the sheriff was shaking with rage as he kept the gun pointed at Peter.

As she looked back at Peter she saw he was now looking at her as he gave a small shrug like he'd only done what was necessary and in return she nodded in agreement.

She was never one to agree with Peter, in fact normally she'd go against him just for the sake of arguing but this was a situation they both agreed on.

As he started to turn away from them to leave, Avery thought she saw a hint of a smirk on his face but she couldn't tell if it was real or the shadowed hallway playing tricks on her.

Now standing beside Sheriff Stilinski, Derek called out, "We've learned a better way!"

Dropping the bloodstained cloth to the ground the older wolf called over his shoulder, "I'm a creature of habit."

**~()~**

Teagan walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her, then opened the door under the sink to pull the kit out. She cleaned the cuts, then tried to cover up as much as she could with a bandaid.

Once she was done, she put the kit back, then laid her hands on the bathroom counter, as she took a deep breath and slowly released it. She could hear that someone had started playing music throughout the house, the loud bass thumping, making her head hurt.

As she heard everyone joking around and having fun, she reached up to wipe the tears from her face. There was a time that she and her friends would be right in the middle of a party having the time of their lives, but things were different now.

Situations like this reminded her of how much they have all grown and how they would never be able to enjoy some thing as simple as a party.

All of their lives were complicated now, they were constantly in danger and having to protect the ones they loved daily. Most people didn't even think twice about a full moon, but they did. She had an app on her phone to keep track of them so she could help Isaac when the time came.

That wasn't normal teenager behavior. She shouldn't be plotting out full moons or locking herself up in bathrooms while she cleaned cuts caused by her werewolf boyfriend. But no matter how hard her life got at times, she wouldn't trade it for anything. Cause even when it was heart breaking and scary, it was a full and meaningful life.

She had friends - her pack, a loving father and Isaac. The latter had always been there for her, through the good and the bad, and she was going to do the same for him.

She glanced down at the marks on her arm, then blew out a breath, as she quietly said his name. Even if it was noisy throughout the house, she knew no matter where he was, he would hear her and she hoped hearing her voice would ease his pain.

"Isaac... I don't know where you are, but I can bet, where ever you are, you're beating yourself over what you did." She paused for a moment to wipe another tear from her cheek before continuing,"But I need you to listen to me. Listen and really hear me when I say this isn't your fault. Tonight isn't easy for any of us, but being apart makes it worst."

She lowered her head, feeling more tears fill her eyes. She sniffed and wiped them away, before she lifted her head, looking at her refection in the mirror, as she softly added,"I need you to come and find me, okay? Come back to me, Isaac."

She stood still for a moment, hoping he would do what she asked. She hoped he would come to her. She lowered her head, about ready to give up, until she heard a knock at the bathroom door.

She quickly wiped the tears from her face, then turned to the door, swinging it open. She felt her heart drop when she saw it was just some freshman who showed up for the party.

"You done in there?" He asked before pushing her aside and rushing inside.

"I guess so." Teagan mumbled, as she walked out of the room right as he slammed the door.

She blew out a breath, feeling disappointed, then stood up straight, plastering a fake smile on her face, as she made her way down the short hall and into the kitchen; which was now crawling with teens; drinking, dancing and joking around. She saw a keg sitting in the middle of the floor and wondered where the hell that came from.

She glanced around, wondering where Lydia was, then felt someone walk over to her, coming to a stop beside her. She turned her head, seeing a guy holding out a plastic cup toward her.

"Here, you look like you need this." He stated.

"Thanks." Teagan mumbled, as she grabbed the cup, downing the beer in one swallow. She wasn't usually a big drinker, but after the night she had, she needed it.

He nodded his head toward the keg, as he asked,"More?"

"No, I'm good. One drink is my limit." Teagan said. "But thanks..." She began to say, as she tried to remember his name. She saw him on the lacrosse field, but couldn't remember his name.

"Garrett." He said, finishing her sentence.

"Right, Garrett. Sorry." She breathed out. Apologizing for not remembering his name, but he just shook his head, telling her it was okay. "I'm.."

"Teagan Young." He interrupted. He flashed her a smile, as he said,"I know all about who you and your friends are."

She lowered her eyebrows in confusion at his comment. Even if he was flashing her a friendly smile, his words caused a chill down her back.

Seeing the look on her face, he chuckled, as he added,"I didn't mean that as creepy as it sounded. I just mean, everyone knows you, Avery and Lydia are the most popular girls in school. You're also friends with Scott McCall; who was captain last year. Your boyfriend is on the team, as well as a couple of your other friends."

"Wow. You do know your stuff." Teagan stated. Even if she and her friends were well-known around school cause of their status, the way he knew things still didn't sit well with her.

"Where are all of your friends tonight?" Garrett questioned, as he glanced around. "I saw Lydia earlier, but I haven't seen the rest."

"They're around here." Teagan answered vaguely. She wasn't going to tell him that Isaac was hiding somewhere in the house, that Kira and Scott had Liam in the boathouse or that Stiles had Malia chained up in the basement.

She flashed him a tight smile, as she added,"Well, I should go find my friends now."

"Wait, before you go..." Garrett called out, as he reached out to grab her arm.

For a moment, instinct almost took over and she was about to grab his hand and twist it back, the way Allison had taught her in one of their many self defense lessons, but before she could do anything, he saw the look on her face and removed his hand.

He held his hands up, as he shot her an apologetic smile. "I just wanted to ask if you were okay. That looks like a pretty nasty scratch." He said, as he nodded his head toward her bandaged arm.

She looked down, most of the scratches were covered, but some of it she couldn't cover and was visible. She looked back up at Garrett, as he continued,"You should probably get that checked out."

"It'll be fine. It'll heal." Teagan said.

Garrett smirked, as he scratched the side of his head, then said,"You know, if something attacked me like that, I'll put it down."

Teagan titled her head to the side, like his comment before about her friends, feeling like there was more that he was trying to say. Like he knew the real truth about her friends.

"It was just an accident." Teagan pointed out.

"There are no accidents when it comes to vicious animals." Garrett said back. "Sometimes you just have to run them off." He added, as he gave he a look, almost like the comment was supposed to be some inside joke that only he understood.

He took a sip of his beer, flashing her a smile, as he continued,"Have a good night, Teagan Young."

Teagan turned her head, watching him walk away, feeling even more uncomfortable by his comments. She didn't know how he could know anything, he was just a kid. Maybe the full moon was affecting her too, and making her feel paranoid about everyone.

She shook her head, trying to get rid of the uneasy feelings, then made her way out of the kitchen. She glanced around all the rooms on the first floor, not finding Lydia or Isaac, then made her way over toward the stairs and went up them.

She walked down the familiar hallway, sensing a feeling of deja vu. It had been awhile since she has been to the lake house, but she had this feeling like she had been there recently, walking down the same hall she was now.

She walked over toward a room she, Lydia and Avery were in often when they were younger. It was Lorraine's office.

While the older woman was busy at work, her granddaughter, Lydia and the other two girls, would sit at a small table on the side, doing different arts and crafts or taking turns reading from one of the many story books she had.

Since Lorraine's death, most of her stuff that was still in the house had been boxed up. But a few of the old books were still sitting on the shelf off to the side. Teagan walked over to it, picking up one of the books with a smile on her face. She flipped through a couple of pages until she came across a picture of Lorraine standing by a lake.

She pulled the picture out, staring at the older woman who had been like a grandma to her. She still remembered the day the older woman passed away, it hit them all, but really destroyed Lydia to lose her.

Teagan continued to stare at the picture, until she saw a ripple in the water. She lowered her eyebrows, thinking she was just seeing things. Maybe that one beer she had was stronger than she thought, until she noticed Lorraine's hair blowing in the breeze, then heard someone softly say her name.

She dropped the book and picture, then jumped back with a gasp, her back slamming into someone. She quickly spun around, afraid of her might be standing behind her, then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it was Isaac.

"Thank God, it's you." Teagan breathed out, as she looked up at her boyfriend. She could tell by the look on his face that he was still beating himself up from earlier.

"I heard you... earlier." Isaac softly said, referring to her speech earlier while she was in the bathroom. "Teagan, I'm-"

"Shh." Teagan said, interrupting him, as she placed a finger against her lip. Without another word, she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his for a deep kiss.

"Thank you for coming back to me." She mumbled against his lips, before she began to kiss him again.

Isaac laid his hands on her hips, itching to pull her closer, but he couldn't do it, he didn't deserve the love she was giving him now. As much as he hated to do it, he pushed her back, breaking the kiss.

"Teagan, you can't- you shouldn't do that." Isaac said, as he took another step back from her.

"Why? Cause you accidentally hurt me?" Teagan questioned, as she reached out for him but he pulled away from her.

"It wasn't an accident, Teagan."

"It was just the full moon, Isaac-"

"No!" He snapped. "It wasn't the full moon, it wasn't an accident, it was me, Teagan. I hurt you, cause I wanted to hurt you and nothing can explain that away." He shook his head, as he continued,"And you can't blame it on you being haunted like last time. I did this, I lost control and I hurt you, Teagan, and I liked it. I liked it too damn much."

He blew out a breath, feeling disgusted by himself. He turned away from her, as he added,"And it's only a matter of time before I slip and hurt you again."

"Isaac, you made a mistake-"

"Stop making excuses for me, Teagan!" Isaac snapped.

"I'm not, Isaac, but I also know you are only human. None of us are perfect." Teagan pointed out. "Look at some of the things I said and done to you, but you forgave me, right?"

Isaac nodded his head, as he said,"Cause I know it wasn't your fault."

Teagan walked up to him, taking his hands in hers, as she said,"And none of this is your fault."

When he opened his mouth to argue, she stepped up on her tip toes, pressing her lips against his to silence him. She pulled back to look at him, as she laid her hands on the back of his neck, playing with his curls, as she said,"You make mistakes, Isaac, and that is okay cause we all do. Things are harder for you. You didn't have a good home life and you're still healing from that, then add in being a werewolf, and on a full moon at that. I can't even imagine how hard that is."

"You feel things deeply and I wouldn't have you any other way. I want you exactly how you are, Isaac, there is nothing I would change about you." She gave him a sweet kiss, resting her forehead against his, as she softly said,"I love you. Everything about you. The good, the bad and everything in between."

As she pulled back to look at him, he laid his hands on either side of her face, blowing out a breath, as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers for a gentle kiss. "I'm sorry." He whispered out, against her lips.

"It's okay." She whispered back, as she smiled at him.

"It's not." He quietly said. He lightly grabbed her elbow, then carefully ran his fingers against the bandage, a pained look on his face. He still hated himself for hurting her. Deep down he knew he didn't deserve her. She was too good for him, but he couldn't walk away from her. He loved her too damn much to walk away.

"Hey.." She softly said, getting his attention. She smiled at him again, as she repeated,"It's okay."

Isaac shook his head, as he laid his other hand on the side of her face, then said,"One day, you're going to wake up and realize how bad I am for you. One day, I'm going to lose you and that thought kills me."

"No." Teagan softly said, as she shook her head disagreeing with him. "Every day... Every day of my life, I'm going to wake up loving you. The only thing that will change is every day, I'm going to fall more and more in love with you." She lightly touched his face, as she whispered,"It's you and me, Isaac. It's always you and me."

Isaac wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him, as he kissed the side of her head. The two held each other, swaying side to side even though no slow song was playing at the moment, but they didn't care. All they wanted was to be in each other's arms. Together they were stronger and together they could get through anything.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you so much for reading guys! I really hope you all enjoyed the chapter. ^_^**

**We owe an extra special shout out and thank you to xxxRena, who has not only been with us since season 1 of the Blue Moon series, but who also read and reviewed the last chapter. Thank you Rena! ^_^**


	19. Only You

**Chapter Nineteen– Only You**

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><p>After silently holding each other for a while, Isaac pulled back to look at her, brushing her hair out of her face before he leaned forward to press his lips against her. The kiss started out slow, the two just enjoying the tender moment.<p>

He lightly touched her face, then ran his hands down her arms, his touch leaving goosebumps on her skin, before he wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. When she rubbed her lower body against his most sensitive part, he lost all control. He tangled his hand in her hair, pulling her face closer to his, as he deepened the kiss.

He lowered his arm, placing it under her butt before lifting her up from the floor. She wrapped her legs around his waist, then felt him moving them across the floor before sitting her down on top of the desk in the middle of the room.

She laid back on the desk, pulling him toward her, as he climbed on top of the desk with her and laid on top of her. He kissed across her jaw, then down the side of her neck. She rolled her head to the side, giving her better access, but was surprised when he pulled back with a snarl.

"What's wrong?" Teagan asked, confused.

"You still smell like him." Isaac said, as his eyes flashed in anger.

"Like who?" Teagan asked, feeling even more confused.

"Liam." Isaac answered. When she opened her mouth, he shook his head, interrupting her,"I know nothing happened. I guess it's just from you two being in the car together. But you have his scent on you and it's driving me crazy. I smelled it earlier tonight and that's why..."

"That's why you lost your temper." Teagan finished for him.

She laid her hand on his chest, pushing him back a little, as she grabbed the bottom of her shirt. She arched her back, as she pulled it up then over her head, leaving her in a light colored tank top.

She looked up at him with a smile, as she asked,"Is that better?"

Isaac nodded his head, his eyes fixed on her, as he said,"Much."

Teagan grinned, as he leaned down and pressed his lips against hers for a heated kiss, then kissed down her chin, the front of her neck and down to her chest. He grabbed on to the tank top, pushing it up, as he kissed down her stomach, his hands rubbing all over her body like he couldn't get enough of her.

He ran his hands up her arms, then laid his palms against her, intertwining their fingers together. He laid their joined hands above their heads as he kissed back up her body until he got to her neck. She rolled her head to the side, as he began to lightly suck and kiss her skin. She gasp in surprise and arched her back when he bit into her collar bone.

"Isaac..." She breathed out, as she squeezed his hands, enjoying the hard bite.

He lifted his head from her neck, looking at her, then leaned down to softly kiss her lips. "I'm sorry." He mumbled against her lips. Apologizing for being so rough with her. He didn't mean to be, but between the moon and her scent all about him, he couldn't stop himself.

"It's okay." Teagan whispered, as she shook her head with a smile on her face.

He smiled back at her, as he ran a hand down her side, stopping at the waist band of her pants. He shot her a look, as if asking if he should continued. When she nodded her head, he went to unbutton her pants, but before he could, the door opened and Kira ran in.

When she saw what was going, she quickly turned around and covered her eyes, as she called out,"Oh, my God! I-I'm so sorry. I should have knocked. I-I wasn't thinking. I-"

"It's okay." Teagan said with a chuckled, as she pulled her shirt down.

"Well it's not okay, but it's okay." Isaac added, as he stood up from the desk and helped Teagan up.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you two would be doing that." Kira called out. "Well, I mean, it is a party and that is what happens at parties, so I should have known, but I didn't know and I'm sorry!"

"Kira, seriously, it's okay." Teagan said, laughing. "And you can turn around now by the way."

"Okay." Kira breathed out, as she turned around to face them. "I really am sorry-"

"It's okay." Isaac said with a sigh. "What's going on?"

"Liam got away." Kira said.

"Wait, what? Is everyone okay? Where is he?" Teagan asked with wide eyes, as she took a step closer to her.

"He ran toward the woods and Scott is after him." Kira explained. "The party has pretty much cleared out and I asked around, but no one has seen Lydia in a while."

"I was downstairs earlier and didn't see her, but she could have went back down there." Teagan said. She looked over at the dark haired girl, as she added,"You check downstairs and we'll check up here."

"Okay." Kira said with a nod, as she turned to walk out the door. She quickly turned back around, as she said,"I really am sorry about just now."

"It's fine." Teagan said with a smile.

Kira smiled back, then quickly rushed out of the room. Teagan let out a sigh, as she turned around to grab her other shirt, but before she could put it on, Isaac grabbed it from her and shook his head, not wanting her to put it back on. In his opinion it needed to be burned now that it smelled like Liam.

Teagan chuckled at the look at his face, as she looked at him and said,"If I can't wear my own shirt. At least give me yours." She laid her hand on his chest, grabbing the fabric of the long sleeve shirt he was wearing. She knew he had a short sleeve t-shirt under it. "Then I can smell like you, which is the only scent I want on me anyways." She added with a smile.

Isaac smiled back as he removed the top shirt he had on, leaving him in a dark colored t-shirt. He handed her the shirt, watching her as she slipped it on. He held up her shirt, as he asked,"Can we just burn this one?"

"No!" Teagan said with a laugh. "There is this thing called a washing machine, you know?" She added sarcastically.

"I don't think a wash will get rid of his scent. It's strong." Isaac pointed out, as the two walked toward the door. "His feelings are strong which made the scent strong."

"What feelings?" Teagan asked confused, as she turned her head to look at him.

"Teagan, the punk is into you. And being around you that long made him very happy." Isaac explained.

The two walked down the hall, Teagan opening each other to peek inside as she looked for Lydia. Isaac watched her for a moment, then cleared his throat, before asking,"Did uh, did it make you happy?"

"Did what make me happy?" Teagan asked, as she turned her head to look at him.

"Being alone with Liam." He answered.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Teagan questioned, as shot him a look.

"Are you not going to answer it?" Isaac asked back. He didn't even know why he was asking her the question, he knew what the answer would be. He knew it was just the moon making him act crazy again.

When he saw her open her mouth, he shook his head and held up his hand, as he said,"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. I'm sorry."

Teagan walked up to him, laying her hands on either side of his face, as she said,"It's okay to be jealous sometimes, Isaac. But you never should wonder if there is someone else. It's you. Only you, okay?"

"I know. It's-It's the moon, the scents, it's messing with me." Isaac explained.

She took the shirt from his hand, as she said,"Then we'll throw this away. I can always get another shirt, but I can never find another Isaac."

Isaac smiled, as he leaned forward to give her a gentle kiss. He rested his forehead against hers, as he blew out a breath, feeling himself calm down.

He pulled back to look at her, giving her another quick kiss, as he nodded down the hall and said,"Come on, let's find Lydia."

"Can you hear her anywhere?" Teagan questioned, as the two began to walk down the hall again.

"No. I can't hear her anywhere in the house. But she has to be here, right?" Isaac questioned, as he opened a door and looked inside a room, not seeing her. When Teagan didn't answer, the turned around, seeing her standing in front of a door, as if in a daze.

"Teagan?" He questioned, as he walked over to her, standing beside her. "Teagan? What is it?"

"This room. I feel drawn to this room and I don't know why." She softly said.

"What room is it?" He asked.

"I don't know. Lorraine never let us in there." Teagan answered.

Isaac leaned closer to the door, trying to hear inside the room, then lowered his eyebrows as he said,"I don't hear anything in there. It's almost like it's-"

"Sound proof." Teagan quietly said.

She reached out to turn the knob, then pushed the door open, realizing it was the white room she was in during her dream. Everything was the same, the colors, the record player. The only different was now Lydia was inside the room, standing in front of the player.

Seeing her friend, Teagan went into the room and went right for her. Lydia was staring at the wall, the record player softly playing. Teagan reached out to grabbed Lydia's hand, getting her attention.

Lydia turned her head to look at her with tears in her eyes. Teagan gave her hand a squeeze, as she asked,"You heard it, didn't you? It's a code, right?" As Lydia nodded her head, she continued,"What was it? What's the code?"

"Allison." Lydia whispered, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Teagan lowered her eyebrows, a pained looked crossed her face, as she wrapped her arms around Lydia, pulling her toward her. She looked at Isaac for over her shoulder, mouthing the word 'laptop', asking him to grab Lydia's laptop.

As Isaac left the room, Teagan continued to hold Lydia; who had latched on to her best friend. She laid her head on Teagan's shoulders, as she whispered,"I miss her, T."

"I know you do, Lydia. I miss her too." Teagan whispered back, as she tightened her hold on her.

"We've all lost too much. My grandma, your mom, Aleine, Aiden, Allison... the list goes on." Lydia said.

"I know." Teagan said with a nod.

When Isaac walked back into the room with the laptop, Teagan pulled back to look at the red head. She wiped the tears from Lydia's face, as she said,"I know it's hard, Lydia. But we have to keep fighting. That is what they would want. They would want us to keep fighting, and fighting is what we're going to do, okay?"

"Okay." Lydia said with a nod. She knew Teagan was right, now was not the time to break down. She took a deep breath, holding back the rest of her tears, then stood up straight, as she turned around to see Isaac holding her laptop.

She walked over to him, grabbing the laptop, then sat it down on top of a desk as she opened it up. She pulled up the file she needed, then paused for a moment, before she typed out her fallen friend's name.

Teagan and Isaac stood over her shoulders, as they watched to see what would happened. They didn't have to wait long as a few names popped up with a number beside them. They all read each name quietly to themselves, not recognizing any of them, until they saw Lydia's name pop up, causing the red head's mouth to drop open.

Teagan grabbed on to the chair Lydia was sitting in, when she saw the name. She felt her heart racing as Scott and Derek's name popped up next, but when she saw Avery's name, she took a quick step back, slamming into Isaac.

"This can't be happening." She whispered, as she turned around to look at him.

He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her toward him, as he looked back at the laptop, his eyes widen when he saw the last name on the list, his name.

"What is it?" Teagan asked, when she saw the look on his face.

"It's nothing." Isaac lied.

"Teagan, don't-" He began to say, as she turned back around to look at the list.

She saw the look on Lydia's face first, then looked at the screen, feeling her heart stop when she saw the last name. Isaac was on the list.

"Someone please tell me this isn't as bad as it looks." Teagan said, as she looked at Isaac, then over at Lydia.

"I wish I could." Isaac softly said, as he kissed the side of her head.

Lydia shook her head, as she said,"But this is as bad as it looks." She looked back at the screen, as she said,"It's a dead pool. And most of us are on it."

**~()~**

Avery pulled to a stop on the street across from Derek's building, after she'd quickly parallel parked between two other cars and shut her car and all lights off before sliding down in her seat.

Barely a second later a car slowly drove past the end of the street from the same direction she'd came from. Once the car was out of sight she blew out a heavy breath and rubbed her hands over her face.

Ever since she'd gotten off the phone with Teagan earlier she'd been on edge, feeling like every car she passed and every person who looked at her was out to get her for the reward money.

She'd learned from her best friend that Lydia had managed to get the code word to unlock the cypher key that had been encrypted in her notes and it had revealed a list of names each of them had a monetary value next to them. It was a dead-pool and almost every single friend she had was on the list, including herself.

Avery was worth twenty one million dollars, the only person worth more than her was Scott at twenty five million dollars. Teagan had also explained how there are two more lists but each one had a different cypher key and Lydia was going to spend the weekend at the lake house trying to crack the other two codes.

Even thought she'd told Derek earlier that night that she was going home to sleep in her own bed that night she found herself unable to sleep at her house after the events of the day, she just needed to know that she wasn't alone –she just needed him.

But it wasn't long after leaving her house that she noticed a car seemed to be tailing her, even after several unexpected turns and even making a few circles the car followed. She finally sped off down a few residential alleys and whipped her car onto his street in the industrial part of town to try and get them off her trail.

Grabbing her overnight bag from the passenger seat she locked her car up and pulled the hood of her thin dark gray jacket up before zipping it shut and keeping her head down as she briskly walked across the street, but came to a stop outside of the building and wondered if she was really ready to see him again or not. She knew she needed to tell him about the dead-pool, but for the moment she was having second thoughts about seeing him.

Shaking her head she turned and went back to her car, unlocking it and getting inside before she sped off back in the direction of her house.

Parking her car in the driveway she got out and started for the door but paused when she heard some noise in the back yard.

Just as she got near the back of the house she thought she heard something behind her. Spinning around her heart started to pick up speed when she didn't see anyone, holding perfectly still she checked her surroundings and listened for any sign of footsteps.

When she didn't hear anything or see any suspicious things, she slowly crept around the back of her house, her eyes darting rapidly back and forth taking in flawlessly landscaped surroundings softly illuminated in the glow from solar lights.

When she didn't see anything out of the ordinary, she shivered and pulled her hood up over her head again, but just as she started to give up and head to the door she heard a twig snap on the ground behind her.

Quickly spinning around she pulled her purse off her shoulder and swung it out smacking the person over the head with it, she didn't even look to see who it was before tackling them to the ground and trying to pin them. But just as quickly as she'd gotten them down they managed to flip them and try and pin her, but she expertly knocked them to the side and jumped to her feet.

Her attention was drawn to the back of the yard where she thought she saw someone disappearing in the shadows; she frantically looked for her purse where she'd hidden a set of her Chinese ring daggers but before she could locate where her bag had landed she saw movement out of her corner of her eye and knew the other person was also back on their feet, bringing an arm back she elbowed them in the stomach causing them to make a loud pained groan.

But just as she started to turn around and raise an arm to hit them, they grabbed her arm and brought it behind her back before quickly latching onto her other wrist and pulling it behind her back as well.

She groaned in pain and frustration when the person slammed her against the side of the house and kept her arms pinned while she fought and struggled against their hold on her.

Derek breathed heavily through the pain of being hit in the stomach as he fought to keep the person he'd seen sneaking around Avery's house, pinned against it.

Finally getting both of their wrists in one of his hands, he raised his other hand and started to pull the hood of the jacket down to find out who the person was and why they were sneaking around the house, but before he could the outside light turned on and someone yelled, "What the hell are you two doing?"

Richard's eyes widened as saw Derek had pinned Avery against the house.

Looking back towards who he thought was a stranger, he saw a mess of blond waves spilled out from the fallen hood and he leaned sideways seeing he'd pinned Avery.

"Avery?" He asked as he fought for his breath from the struggle.

The teenager stopped fighting as gasped, "Derek?"

"What is going on?" Richard yelled louder at them, still clutching onto the iron fire poker he'd grabbed from beside the fireplace in his bedroom when he'd heard all the noise outside.

Derek stepped back and released his hold on Avery who rubbed her sore wrists and looked at her dad with a shrug as she said, "I thought I heard someone back here…"

Then her attention went to Derek. "What the hell are you doing?" She asked as she leaned over and held onto her knees fighting for her own breath.

Still looking around the yard, trying to use his diminishing senses he said, "Coming to see you… but I heard something back here too."

Visibly shaken from the entire situation, Richard asked, "So you were just hearing each other?"

"No." They both answered at the same time, as Derek started for the back of the yard and Avery remembered seeing someone disappear into the shadows.

"What's he doing?" Her dad whisper yelled at her.

Quickly retrieving the daggers from her purse she spun them around her fingers and whispered back to him, "Stay here."

Giving her a disbelieving look he called after her, but she didn't turn around as she also disappeared into the shadows.

It only took moments for her to find Derek as she quietly asked, "What is it?"

"Someone was here…"

"Can you pick up a scent?" Her voice was quiet as they stayed hidden in the wooded entryway to the small woods lining the back of Avery's yard.

Derek looked around, disappointed in himself as he shook his head, "I couldn't even catch your scent to know I had you pinned at the house."

Her face twisted with concern, but not about the fact that someone had been in her yard. She was more worried about his senses failing him and feared that losing his wolf wasn't the worst possible outcome of what Kate did to him.

Hearing twigs snapping and heavy footsteps they both spun around, Derek's eyes glowing yellow as he let out a threatening growl and Avery spun the daggers around her fingers again, easily catching them and raising them to fight until they realized it was just her dad.

"Dad!" Avery exclaimed, as Derek's voice came out in a slight growl when he asked, "What are you doing?"

Her dad stared at them in shock for a few moments until Derek finally blinked and his eyes stopped glowing yellow in the darkness surrounding them.

Still clutching onto the fire poker, Richard blew out a heavy breath and admitted, "I didn't know what the hell was going on! You both just took off claws and knives at the ready!"

Derek and Avery exchanged looks before she shrugged and said, "We should probably all just go inside… and make sure we lock the doors."

**~()~**

After leaving the lake house, Teagan was quiet on the drive home to her house. Isaac would glance over at her every so often, seeing her wipe a tear from her face. He knew seeing their friends on a hit list was shocking, but he knew seeing his name had really set her off. She couldn't lose anymore friends and she definitely couldn't lose him.

As he turned on to her street, he removed one of his hands from the steering wheel, then reached out to grab her hand, causing her to look over at him. He pulled the car into the driveway, shutting it off, then turned in his seat to look at her.

"It's going to be okay." Isaac said, as he ran his thumb across the back of her hand, hoping his action and words would calm her.

She shook her head, as a tear fell down her face, before she softly said,"You don't know that." She laid her head back against the head rest, then turned it to look at her, as she added,"You're on a list, Isaac. A hit list. People want to-They want to kill you for money, a lot of money. That is not okay."

She turned her head to look out the windshield, as more tears filled her eyes. She reached up with her free hand, using the sleeve of his shirt to wipe them away, her voice breaking, as she said,"This is different than just some random hunter coming into town and wanting to kill you. Someone is willing to pay a lot of money to get rid of you, and I can't-"

As she broke down and began to cry, he grabbed her arm, bringing her toward him. As she sat sideways in his lap, her legs over the center console, he pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the side of her head.

"I'm not going anywhere." Isaac whispered in her ear, before pressing his lips against it.

Teagan laid her hands on his shoulders, gripping his shirt, as she looked at him before whispering,"I can't lose you."

"You won't." Isaac whispered back, as he wiped the tears from her face. "I told you, I'm not going anywhere. It's always you and me, remember?"

Teagan leaned forward, resting her head in the crook of his neck, as she blew out a breath and said,"I can't believe this is happening. I can't believe someone wants you dead for 13 million."

"Me either." Isaac said back. "I never thought I would be worth more dead than alive."

At his comment, Teagan snapped her head up to look at him, as she said,"Don't say that." She laid a hand on the side of his face, as she added,"To them you might be just a number, but not to me, to me you are more. You changed my life, you-you've made it better... You made me better, and having you here with me, alive, there is no price for that. You mean everything to me, Isaac." She ran a finger across his bottom lip, as she whispered,"You changed my life with one kiss."

Isaac softly smiled at her words, as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers for a tender kiss. She laid her hands on the back of his neck, as she moved her lips against his, desperate to keep him close to her, as if she was scared to let him go.

"Hey..." Isaac softly said, as he laid his hands around her wrist. From her actions and the sound of her heart, he knew was she was still terrified for him, that she was starting to freak out about it again.

He pulled back to look at her, wanting to calm her down, as he said,"We don't even know who has this list-"

"Exactly! We don't know who has it. We don't know how many assassins are out there, just waiting to go after you and the others." She interrupted. "They could be watching you now, they could..." She paused for a moment, as a thought hit her, causing her to breathe out,"Oh, my God."

"What?" Isaac asked, when he saw the scared look on her face.

"I think it's already happened." She softly said, as she looked at her with tears in her eyes. "The car, Isaac. The car that tried to run us off the road. What if that was a hit? What if they were trying to kill you?"

As he remember the incident she was referring to, he felt anger over take him as he realized she was right. They knew something felt off about what happened, but with nothing else to go on, they just tried to shrug it off as a random accident, but what if it wasn't?

If they would have wreck, it wouldn't have hurt him, but that accident could have killed her. He felt a chill go down his spine, as he realized things were worst than he imagined. Not only were people going to be after him for the money, but some would risk her life to end his and that wasn't okay with him.

"Isaac..." She began to say when she saw the look on his face.

"It's going to be okay." He said again, hoping his word were true. He pulled her toward him, kissing the side of her head, before she laid her head in the crook of his neck again.

He tighten his hold on her, as he made a promise to himself, that no matter what happened he would protect her. If someone wanted to end him for 13 million that badly, they could have him, but he was going to make sure she was always safe. No matter what, he would always keep her safe.

**~()~**

Avery sat at her desk staring down to the computer tablet in her hands with the copy of the dead-pool up that Lydia had emailed to her.

Hearing footsteps she looked up to see Derek walking into her room as he assured her, "Everything's locked up."

"Thanks." She softly said as she darkened the screen on her tablet and laid it down on her desk.

"Who would have been in your yard?" He asked looking at her and feeling like she knew a hell of a lot more than he did.

"An assassin." She calmly said.

With raised eyebrows he pointed out, "Peter killed the mute…"

"I don't think he's the only one in Beacon Hills, Derek." She quietly said, then explained, "Lydia was able to figure out a cypher key and she unlocked a dead-pool… and we're all on it."

Picking up her tablet she put her password in, then handed it to him. Walking over to her bed he sat down and scrolled through the list reading all the names and seeing the numbers beside it he guessed, "Someone's using the money from the vault to have all of us killed?"

"It looks that way… there are two more lists that need cracked and if we're right then all of the prices will add up to-" She began to say but he cut her off with a guess, "A hundred and seventeen million?"

She nodded and he scrolled farther down on the list until he felt his heart drop, and his gaze snapped back to her as he said, "You're on this… for what? Twenty one… thousand?"

"Million." She whispered as she stood up and crossed her room, pausing to look out of her window as she waited on his reaction.

He scrolled back up, looking at his own price and shaking his head at the thoughts of how many people would be trying to take them both out for a huge payday.

"This… this is insane." He breathed as he dropped the tablet on her bed and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Right?" She breathed, "I mean my family has money… but I think I'm worth more dead than alive."

"That's not funny." He sighed.

"I'm not trying to be." She argued, her eyes were focused on Derek's reflection as he sat the side of her bed.

Glancing back down to the tablet on the bed he said, "Well, I'm not letting you out of my sight until we figure out who put this dead-pool out and stop them."

Looking down she hid her smile as she pointed out, "I can protect myself, Derek."

His mind drifted back to watching her as she'd fought the oni at Scott's house. He'd known before then that she'd been training with Allison, but it wasn't until he'd seen her fighting that day that he'd really saw how far she'd came and how much she'd learned. She'd always been strong and one of the toughest people he'd ever met, but now she had the physical training to go along with it.

"I never said you couldn't." He softly answered, watching her back as she continued to stare out of the window.

"So if that's why you're here… because you think you need to protect me, you can go. I'll be okay." She argued with him.

"That's not why I'm here, Avery."

"Then why are you here?" She continued to push, still not turning around.

"I'm here because I want to be…" He started to say, pulling a deep breath as he watched her and tried to choose his words correctly. He'd never been good at talking about how he felt but he knew she needed to hear it, one of his biggest regrets was not showing and telling her how much she meant to him before –it was a mistake he was determined to not make again.

"What are you saying?" She asked, as she turned to face him.

Standing up from the side of the bed he let out the breath he'd been holding and decided he needed to just say it, get everything out so she knew where he stood and how he felt.

"I'm here because there isn't anywhere else in the world that I'd rather be. You said that you don't know what you want us to be, but I do. I want you… I want us back. I've hurt you and I know that, but one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made was letting you get away. I was too worried about building a pack and getting power… but I don't care about that, not anymore. I care about you more than anything else, and Avery I swear to you that I'm not going to make that mistake again." He said, his words rushing out faster than he'd meant for them too, and when she remained silent he wondered if she could even make sense of everything he'd just unloaded on her.

Images and memories of how many times she'd almost lost him flooded her mind like an old picture show. So many times he'd been close to death and each time her fear of losing him grew.

He was who she loved, what she had always wanted and it took a while for her to realize it. But now she knew without a doubt that she'd never love anyone the way she loved Derek. And as happy as that idea made her, it also scared her too.

When he heard her heart start to race he looked up to see her swaying a bit as she held onto the corner of the dresser, trying keep her balance.

"What's wrong?" He starting to walk over to her, but he'd barely taken a few steps when she threw herself into his arms, clutching desperately onto him and cherishing the feeling of being wrapped in his warm, strong embrace.

"Avery…" He asked, growing concerned the longer she stayed silent.

"Nothing." She managed a smile as she looked up at him, pushing her fears from her head she said, "Nothing is wrong… somehow through everything that's happened and all that we've been through we're still alive and were together, that has to count for something, right?"

He nodded, his eyes locking with hers as he quietly said, "I love you."

For now she was going to try and push out her negative thoughts from her mind, and just let herself be happy –which was a completely foreign concept for her. "I love you too…" She breathed, as she reached up and played with the back of his hair she added, "That's the most important thing, right?"

A smile spread over his lips and he started to lean into kiss her, but she kept talking, "I love you and that's important thing… everything else can wait, we can deal with Kate and the dead-pool and Teagan later."

His eyebrows lowered in confusion wondering how anything with Teagan was remotely on the same level as the dead-pool and Kate Argent, "What about Teagan?" He questioned.

"Nothing." Avery laughed, smiling at him as she thought of how her best friend wasn't going to happy about this. She wasn't going to be happy about her and Derek getting back together at all.

Still a little confused, he returned the smile as he leaned down to kiss her, thinking she was right. They'd managed to not only beat a pack of murderous alphas, but also survived her darach mother and a nogitsune with almost unstopable demon ninja warriors. Through everything they'd manage to persevere and by some miracle they were both alive and back with each other.

Immediately her heart started to race wildly in her chest at the feeling of his lips on hers, the familiar taste of his mouth and the flutter of excitement in her stomach . Pulling back she stared at him, her eyes lustful and soft pink, lips still parted, it felt like it had been forever since she'd been with him.

His breathing was already just as ragged as hers was, her energy was stronger than normal, her desire for him was radiating off her and even the look in her eyes was driving him crazy.

Forcefully, pulling his face back down to hers, she raised up on her bare feet to deepen the kiss, grazing her nails through his hair and over his scalp. His hands traced the contours of her body, as a low masculine growl took over their kiss.

Her breathing was even more uneven in response as she reached down between them, and grabbed the bottom of his shirt. Once it was gone she, ran her hands up the muscled planes of his stomach and over his broad chest and shoulders.

His mouth was back on hers, engulfing all of her senses and making her knees weak. A little more roughly then before, she ran her nails over his scalp, then dug them in as she pulled his face even closer to hers.

A small gasp escaped her lips when his hand tangled in her long, blonde hair, grabbing a handful and forcing her had back, leaving her neck exposed. Her eyes rolled back with the feeling of his humid breath and searing hot mouth on her flesh. Moaning out into the room, her fingers dug into his arms, feeling his muscles ripple under his skin.

Backing him against the wall she took her time trailing hot kisses across his jaw line as she started to reach down to his jeans but he quickly spun them around, pushing her against the wall.

He had to see her, to feel every inch of her silky, tender flesh under his hands.

Breaking their heated, passionate kiss he grabbed onto the front of her strapless black dress and ripped it down the front, letting the shiny fabric fall in a puddle at her feet, as he took in the sight of her toned, curvy body in the matching bra and underwear set she'd chosen for the day.

She smirked at the look of desire in his eyes, as his deep and hungry kisses still lingered on her damp lips.

With a small laugh, she reached down grabbing onto the waist band of his jeans and pulling him against her, but he quickly caught her hands in his own. They laced their fingers together, and he pinned her hands above her head against the wall.

The way his body pressed against hers, the way he impatiently claimed her mouth, demanding her submission to his every touch was animalistic, and she loved that about him.

Reaching behind her he grabbed onto her butt over the dark red and black underwear she was wearing and lifted her up, where she curled her legs around his waist, her breath emerging in short gasps from his every kiss and touch was more than she could take, and in that moment she knew they weren't even going to make it over to the bed.

She didn't care that the dress he'd just ruined was actually borrowed from Lydia, anymore than she cared that her bra and panty set cost over a hundred dollars. He could rip them to shreds, she just wanted… needed the remainder of their clothes gone, with their bodies and souls joined as one.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much for reading! ^_^ For anyone who doesn't fully understand mine and Miss E Charlotte's reasoning behind Isaac having some trouble controlling his shifting with the full moon in the last chapter, I'd like to direct you all the reviews where my wonderful writing partner replied with an explanation we hope will clear somethings up! It's hard to respond to reviews and clear the air when some readers have their messages disabled.**

**That being said… we'd like to extend our deepest gratitude to SmellYourScentForMiles, jjaejjae, xxxRena, and rapunzelrose13 for reading and reviewing chapter 18 and to Iris RainbowWolf for reviewing chapter 6 on her way to getting caught up with the story. lol ^_^ Welcome back, girl!**


	20. The Heartbeat, The Soul

**Chapter Twenty –The Heartbeat, The Soul**

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><p>That weekend everyone spent time doing their own thing, but never alone. Since most of them were on the list, Scott thought it would be best if no one was ever alone while they were out. As a pack, they all needed to look out for each other.<p>

Lydia, as well as Kira and Malia were out at the lake house, as she tried to get the other two code words. Even Avery stopped by to see if she could help in any way.

Stiles and Scott clued the sheriff in on everything they knew and he told them what he could about the crimes. They knew the first murders were the Walcott's; which was done by the Mute. Next was Demarco, he was the one who delivered the keg to the party, then later was decapitated outside his car. Scott could tell by his scent that Demarco was part of a pack, but he couldn't track them.

The latest murder was a girl named Carrie Hudson. At the moment, they didn't know much about her murder since it was still so new. All Teagan did know was, without the other list, the one they did have, the people were getting picked off left and right, until only her friends would be left and that thought terrified her.

She kept close to Isaac all weekend, scared to let him out of her sight from more than a few minutes. He didn't mind having her close, but he hated seeing how scared she was. He tried to keep her mind off of things by watching her favorite shows or movies, or just by laying in bed with her and holding her, but no matter what they did, he could still hear her heart pounding in her chest in fear.

Even now, he could still hear it pounding as he slept in the guest room that morning. When he heard a crashing noise, he shot up in bed, then scrambled out the room, calling out her name.

He threw her bedroom door open and was surprised to see her bed empty. When he heard another noise, he raced over to the stairs, taking them two by two, as he made his way downstairs.

"Teagan?" He yelled out, wondering where in the house she was.

"Isaac? I'm down here." He faintly heard her say back. He followed her voice over to basement stairs, then made his way down them. "What are you doing?" He questioned, as he stepped off the last step and saw her in the middle of the room surrounded by boxes.

Some she had unpacked and had went through them; those were on one side, and the ones on the other side were ones she still needed to go through.

"I had another dream." Teagan stated, as she reached behind her to grab her hair, piling her hair on top of her head.

"Your mom?" Isaac asked with a concern look on his face, as he took a step closer to her.

"No, not like that. I told you, those are over." Teagan answered, as she flashed him a smile to ease his mind. "But no, but this was one of the other dreams. Like with the record player and all the rain." She explained.

"What was this one about?" Isaac questioned.

"A book."

"A book? That was it?"

"Yeah." Teagan said with a sigh. The dreams frustrated her, she knew they were important somehow, but she only saw glimpses of stuff, never enough of something to go on.

"All I saw was glimpses of a book, but I know the book. I mean, I never saw the title, but it looks so familiar to me and it felt familiar to me too, like it was a book I have read over and over again." Teagan explained in rush, moving her hands around as she talked. She threw her arms out toward the boxes, as she added,"So I thought maybe we had the book, down here, still packed up, but so far I haven't come across it."

She squatted down beside a box, pulling it open, as she added,"But I can find it. I know I can."

"Teagan..." He began to say with a sigh, seeing how frazzled she looked. He knew all of this was getting to her and it worried him to see her being fixated on this book dream, the whole thing was making her crazed.

She ignored him, as she pointed to a box by his feet, as she asked,"Can you look through that box? Just push everything else aside, but if you come across a book show it to me, okay?"

"Teagan..."

"And then once you finish that one, just pick another one that hasn't been opened." She continued. She gestured at the boxes closest to them, as she added,"Any of these are fine. I already checked the others."

"Teagan, hey.." He began to say, as he squatted down in front of her, the box in between them. When she ignored him again and reached into the box, he grabbed her hands, pulling them out. "Look at me..." He continued, then waited until she looked up at him.

He reached out, laying his hand on the side of her face, seeing how tired she looked, it was a look he had seen on her before and that thought scared him. "How much sleep did you get last night?" He questioned.

"Enough." She answered, then sighed when he shot her a look. "Okay, fine, not enough." She added. "It took me forever to fall asleep, then I had the dream about the book and as soon as I woke up I started looking for it. I looked in my room, dad's room, his office and now-"

"Now you're tearing apart the basement looking for something that might not even mean anything." Isaac interrupted. "You dreamed about a book, Teagan. How can a book mean anything? What is so important about this book?"

"I don't know!" Teagan snapped, as she jerked her hands away and stood up. "All I know is I need to find it."

"But why? Why is this book important?" He asked again, knowing there was something she wasn't saying.

"It's just-I just can't shake this feeling." Teagan began to say, as she wrapped her arms around herself. "I can't shake the feeling that the book, the record player, the rain, all of it... it is all tied somehow. Tied to the dead pool and if I can solve this, I can stop it. I can save our friends, I can save..."

Isaac stood up, taking a step toward her, as she paused, then finished for her,"Me. You want to save me."

"I have to save you." Teagan softly said, as tears filled her eyes. "I can't lose you, Isaac. My world will not survive without you in it." She quietly said, as a tear rolled down her face.

Isaac reached out to grab her arm, pulling her toward him, as he wrapped his arms around her. He tighten his hold, as she buried her face in his shirt and began to softly cry. He ran a hand up her back and to the back of her head, cradling her, as he blew out a breath.

Once her tears died down, he pulled back to look at her, wiping the moisture off her face, as he said,"You don't have to save me, Teagan." As she shook her head, he continued,"You don't have to, cause you already have. And no matter what happens next, that's enough for me."

"Well it's not enough for me." She argued. "I need you here with me, Isaac. It's always you and me, remember? Always." She licked her lips, feeling the salt from her tears, as she continued,"I will never stop trying to save you, I am not going to lose you, Isaac. Do you hear me?"

"I hear you." Isaac said, as he cupped her face with both of his hands. He gave her a smile, as he added,"I hear you, my little badass."

Teagan let out a tearful laugh at his comment. She shook her head, as she said,"I'm not much of a badass right now. I'm more of a mess."

"A beautiful mess." Isaac corrected. He leaned down to softly kiss her lips, before whispering,"My beautiful mess. Always."

"Always." Teagan whispered back, as she ran her hands up his chest then wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled him toward her, resuming the kissing. The book and boxes were now the last thing on her mind

**~()~**

Avery was nearing the end of her first lap around the trail area in the park she always went to run at. Not many people used the park or it's running trails since they weaved into the woods and after so many animal attacks most people had sense enough to stay out of the woods.

She'd woke up early that morning to go check on Lydia in the lake house to see how she was doing but sadly the redhead hadn't been able to crack the other two codes. Derek wanted to go with her, but she'd assured him she'd be fine and that she'd meet him later that day.

Kira and Malia had also hung around with Lydia to help her from the night before, and Avery had taken them all out for a late lunch since none of them had slept or eaten anything since the day before. That's where she was when she got a text from Derek saying he was looking into a few things trying to figure out what Kate had done to him and that he'd call her later when he was home and she filled him in that she was still with her friends.

It didn't take long for the text conversation to turn into something far more than casual when she'd said she was thinking of staying with Lydia that night and Derek quickly gave her several reasons why she should stay with him instead

After her friends had noticed she was glued to her phone and seemed a little too smiley considering she was on a dead-pool of supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills, so she quickly put her phone away before her friends became anymore suspicious, especially after Malia pointed out that every time her phone when with a new text message her heart would pick up speed.

It wasn't that she embarrassed to say that she was back with Derek, in fact she was happy with him and so proud of how far he'd came. But she knew the moment Lydia found out, everyone else would know –including Teagan and she didn't want her friend to find out that way.

She'd told Derek she'd stay with her friends until she heard back from him, but then she'd left them after lunch –needing to do something physical after the texts she'd gotten from Derek.

So she'd raced home to change into a pair of tight low rise soffe shorts and a zebra print sports bra before making her way to the park.

Coming out of the woods on the trail she slowed to a stop as she saw Derek standing in the center of the paved trail.

"What are you doing here?" She asked surprised.

"What are you doing here… alone?" He questioned back.

She started to make a flirty comment but then stopped as she saw the look on his face and asked, "Did you find anything out?"

He shook his head with a frown. He'd read so many books and looked up tons of information but he couldn't find anything to help him.

With a smile Avery tried to lift his mood as she reasoned, "Well… you tracked me here, right? So you must be getting your sense of smell back full power!"

"Not exactly." He admitted, looking around them.

When she shot him a confused look, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened an app before handing it to her and she saw it was a tracking app.

Taking out her own phone she scrolled to the last page of her apps and her jaw dropped when she noticed a new icon that wasn't there before, also for the tracking app.

"When the hell did you put this on my phone?" She asked him with wide eyes.

"When you were sleeping." He admitted.

But she barely let him speak as she pointed out, "You know Derek, there's a fine line between being protective… and being creepy and stalking someone."

"Look…" He defended as he pulled his phone from her hands he admitted, "If this keeps happening… if I keep losing these superhuman senses than I'm going to have to find other ways to do the things I could before… like being able to track you."

Closing her eyes she shook her head and held back a laugh.

"It's not funny." He argued.

"It kind of is… I mean come on, Derek. Your argument as to why you're tracking my location isn't weird… only made you sound like that much more creepy." She stifled a laugh as, he shook his head and looked away with a sigh of irritation.

"It's okay." She finally assured him as she considered if the app worked to track her, it could also be used for her to track his location as well.

He watched her as she leaned to the side and stretched her muscles out, noticing his eyes were on her, she turned around putting her back to him as she bent over and stretched some more with a smirk on her lips.

Not taking his eyes off of her he pointed out, "You shouldn't be out here alone… did you forget about the dead-pool?"

Bending over again she looked at him upside down seeing his eyes were glued to her as she pointed out, "This body didn't just happen overnight, you know. Plus… I needed to do something physical."

Managing to pull his gaze away from her as she continued to stretch and flaunt her curves in front of him, he stared off to an old jungle gym slightly overgrown with weeds as he said, "Well, in that case I can think of a millions things we could do that are physical but don't involve you running through a park by yourself."

Turning around she saw him steal a glance at her before he looked away again trying to hide the smile on his face.

"And…what exactly would some of those things be?" She questioned with a knowing look as she faced his way and widened her stance before leaning over to one side and reaching down to hold onto her ankle as she continued to stretch.

He opened his mouth to remind her of some of the things they'd been talking about through text earlier, but when he heard approaching fast paced steps.

Avery didn't pay attention to who was passing as she continued to stretch, but Derek looked over to see who was headed their way to make sure it wasn't someone who came there to try and kill either or both of them.

But when he saw it was a guy he didn't know he breathed a small sigh of relief, until the guy jogged past them; his gaze entirely focused on the teenager as she leaned away from the trail and stretched further down not seeming to notice how the strangers eyes were on her even after he'd jogged past where they were standing.

"Derek." Avery said as she heard him growling under his breath. He didn't need his werewolf senses to know exactly what the jogger was thinking when he'd watched Avery.

"What?" He asked trying to keep his anger in check.

"Your eyes." Avery simply responded, causing him to blink until they stopped glowing.

Hiding her smile she said, "I'm fine seriously… you don't need to stay here with me."

"I'm not leaving." He answered so fast she'd barely gotten her own sentence out.

"So you're going to run with me?" She questioned with raised eyebrows.

"No."

"You're just going to stand here and be creepy?" Avery pushed.

He sighed and shook his head.

"In all honesty… if whatever Kate did is going to continue happening like this, then it might not hurt to start exercising more." She carefully said.

His eyes moved back to her as he pointed out, "I do exercise."

Biting down on her bottom lip, her eyes moved over his upper body wrapped in the snug fabric of his shirt and she said, "I know you do… but I'm not talking about doing pull ups on the door frame and pushups on the floor. I mean like running miles a day, I hope it doesn't come down to it… but you might have to learn how to fully function as a human."

Before he could answer she pointed out, "Without your wolf speed…I could probably outrun you."

He almost looked amused as he crossed his arms over his chest and argued, "There's no way."

Rolling her eyes, she effortlessly tossed a leg up in the air to rest in on his shoulder as she leaned forward stretching and showing off exactly how flexible she was and simply added, "It's true. You've had this super-human strength and speed for your entire life…"

His eyes lingered on her as she raised her eyebrows at him with a playful expression. Swallowing hard he stared back at her, it was taking all the control and restraint he had to not just take her right then.

As she moved her leg off of him she adjusted the edges of her sports bra to prepare for the run and he stepped closer, glancing around before he pointed out, "You know it's kind of late for a run… maybe we should just go back to the loft."

Smiling widely she laughed as she said, "Well, if you don't want to keep me company on a run there was a guy who ran by a little bit ago who looked like he'd like some company."

Derek's jaw tensed and she saw his eyes flash yellow for a moment before he pulled his control back, and placed his hands on her hips and pulling her close as he whispered by her ear, "You're impossible."

Biting down on her bottom lip she smiled as goosebumps broke out over her body when his warm breath touched her ear. She couldn't get over the effect that he had on her and she knew the exact effect she had over him too.

Just as his face was mere inches from hers she pulled back slightly as she whispered, "I need to finish my run, I only got one lap in."

Their eyes met and she laughed as his grip tightened on her sides and he breathed, "Stop teasing me or-"

With a coy smile she danced her finger tips down his arms until her hands landed on his hands and she pulled them from her hips as she took a step back and arched a brow, "Or you'll what, have to teach me a lesson?"

Before he could reply she darted past him running on the trail towards the woods glancing over her shoulder as she called out, "Cause in order to do that, you'll have to catch me first."

He watched as she sprinted off down the path and disappeared into the tree line.

**~()~**

Isaac had made Teagan a deal, he'll help her look in a few boxes, if afterward she promised to leave the house with him to grab some lunch. Now a couple of hours later, they were sitting outside a cafe at a small table on the sidewalk, the sun beaming down on them.

Isaac took a bite of his sandwich, watching her closely as she picked at her food and staring straight ahead, as if lost in her own thoughts. He sat the sandwich down, then reached out to grab his glass, taking a sip and swallowing the food.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but we had a deal." Isaac spoke up and said, getting her attention. "I dig through dusty, old, boxes with you, and you'll eat lunch with me."

"I'm sorry." Teagan said with a sigh, as she lowered her head for a moment. "I just can't stop going through all these dreams in my head and trying to find a connection." She added, as she looked at him.

"There was the sound of rain, there was a record player and now a book." Teagan shook her head, trying to make sense of it all. She blew out a breath, as she added,"What could all of that mean?"

"Maybe there's not a connection." Isaac suggested.

"What do you mean?" Teagan asked.

"Well you've said during these dreams, sometimes it feels like you're seeing this stuff through someone else's eyes, like it's there memories, right?" When she nodded her head, he continued,"So maybe it's not about what you see, but the person who is showing it." He popped a chip in his mouth, as he added,"Figure out who the person is and maybe the message will become clearer."

Teagan smiled as she stood up in her chair then leaned across the table to press her lips against his for a quick kiss.

"Mm." Isaac said, as he laid his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her back toward him for another kiss. "What was that for?" He questioned, as he smiled at her.

"Cause you're a freaking genus." Teagan said, smiling. She sat back down in her chair, as she added,"And cause I love you."

Isaac continued to smile at her, as he winked and popped another chip in his mouth. He reached out to push her plate back toward her, as he said,"Now eat."

She ignored her plate and reached out to grab one of his chips, biting into it, as she smiled at him. "Is that better?"

"I would rather you eat your own food, but eating mine is better than nothing I guess." He stated with a shrug.

Teagan chuckled, as she picked up the sandwich from her plate and took a bite, causing him to smile. As she chewed up the food, she grabbed her purse from the back of her chair, pulling out a tablet. She pushed her plate aside and sat it down in front of her.

"What are you doing?" Isaac questioned.

"Trying to figure this out. Figure out who is trying to speak to me." Teagan answered. She pulled up a search engine and typed in the name Maddy. She didn't think she would get lucky with just a name, and she was right. All she got was a million of results and no way to narrow it down.

Isaac leaned over the table, seeing what she had typed out, then asked,"You think someone named Maddy is trying to reach out to you?"

"Maybe... I dunno." Teagan answered, as she looked up at him. "The very first dream, that is the only name I heard. Maybe that means something." She shrugged, then added,"Maybe there's a Maddy out there somewhere that knew something about the dead pool."

"What about the record player? Or the book? Or the rain?" Isaac questioned.

"I don't know." Teagan said, as she blew out a breath, feeling like she was back to square one. She rested her elbow on the table, and drop her head in her hand, rubbing her forehead with a groan.

"Hey..." Isaac began to say, as he reached out to grab her hand. He ran his thumb over the back of it, trying to calm her down. When she raised her head to look at him, he added,"We'll figure this out... together, okay? Don't let it stress you out."

"I know, but.." She began to say, then froze when she saw someone coming down the sidewalk. "Oh, my God." She breathed out, as she recognized who he was.

"What?" Isaac asked, as he turned in his chair to see what she was looking at.

"It's Mr. Argent." Teagan quietly said, as she stood up from her chair, as he got closer to them.

Scott mentioned he saw him the night of the party. He helped him track down Liam and the two together had discovered Demarco's body. Looking for clues before the police showed up, but she didn't know if he had remained in town or not. She had tried a few times to reach out to him with no success.

"Hi." Teagan said, with a smile, as the older man got closer to him.

Chris gave the teens a friendly smile, as he came to a stop by their table. He knew Teagan had tried to call him a few times, as had Avery, but he couldn't bring himself to talk to them yet. They reminded him too much of Allison and the only way he could even stand to get up every day was by not thinking of Allison. He knew it wasn't a healthy way to deal, but it was the only way he could do it right now.

"I didn't know you were still in town." Teagan said, as she stepped forward to give him a hug. "I tried to call you-"

"I know, sorry." Chris said, as he gave her a small pat then took a step back from her. He looked over at Isaac giving him a small nod, then looked back over at Teagan, as he added,"I've been busy."

"I, uh, I guess you heard about Kate." Teagan softly said, remembering that Scott had mentioned sending him a text.

Chris nodded his head, as he said,"That's why I've been busy."

"You've been looking for her?" Isaac asked. When he nodded, he added,"What are you going to do with her?"

"There's a place I can take her." Chris answered. He glanced over at Teagan, knowing she was thinking of Avery, causing him to add,"She's not going to hurt anyone again."

Teagan nervously played with her hands, as she shot him a small smile of thanks. "So, how long are you in town for?" She questioned.

"I'm not sure. That just depends on Kate, I guess." Chris answered.

"Where are you staying?" She asked. "The reason I asked is cause, I, uh, I recently came across some pictures of Allison, I thought maybe you-"

Chris gave her a small smile, as he shook his head, interrupting her, as he said,"You should keep them. Those are your memories and she would want you to have them."

"Picture or no picture, I'll remember those memories." Teagan softly said, as tears filled her eyes. She saw Isaac circling the table from the corner of her eye, as he came to a stop beside her. As he wrapped an arm around her waist, she continued to look at Chris, as she added,"There is nothing about her I'll forget."

"Me either." Chris quietly said, his voice slightly cracking. He cleared his throat, then looked at the teens, before saying,"Well I should get going."

"Keep in touch, okay?" Teagan questioned. They all had lost Allison, they were all still hurting; him worst than the others, and in her opinion they all needed each other.

"I will." Chris said.

Teagan reached out to grab his arm, stopping him before he could walk away and giving him the type of look Allison would give him. The one that said she saw through his bullshit and she was going to call him on it.

"I mean it." Teagan said, then quietly added,"We have all lost too much. We can't lose you too."

Chris gave her a small smile, as he patted her shoulder, and made her a promise that he intended to keep, the promise that he would be there, no matter what. That he would always be a phone call away.

After Chris walked away from the couple, Teagan glanced down at the ground as she thought about Allison. It had been awhile since she had imagined her death, but it was coming back to her now, causing her to close her eyes as a pained look came across her face.

It was almost like watching a movie in reverse, she saw Allison laying on the ground, then saw her up and alive before the sword went in her. She saw different flashes in her mind of the times when Allison was fighting the oni with them. The way she stepped up and protected all of them at least once.

The pictures kept flashing in her mind, as she saw them all walking into the camp to save Lydia, when they all talked for the last time before walking inside, the car ride to the camp, the time when they were all at Scott's trying to talk to Meredith; trying to figure out where Lydia was.

Teagan's eyes snapped open with a gasp, as Meredith crossed her mind. Hearing her, Isaac turned his head, asking her what was wrong.

"I think I know who we can talk to. About the dreams, I mean." Teagan said, as she turned her head to look at him.

"Who?" He questioned, confused.

"A banshee." Teagan answered with a hopeful smile on her face.

**~()~**

Avery continued her run through the familiar woods as she veered far off of the paved path and even off course from the dirt trails of other runners who'd decided to brave the woods.

Breathing heavily from the workout, Avery glanced over her shoulder and noticed Derek wasn't with her, giving some thought to it, she realized she wasn't sure if he'd even followed her at all.

"Derek?" She called out in the quickly darkening woods. When she got no response, her heart rate sped up even more but this time it was from fear.

With heart wrenching darkened thoughts she started to turn in a slow circle, carefully surveying all of her surroundings but her search was interrupted when someone swooped in from the side and grabbed her backing them up until her back collided with a large tree trunk.

She barely had time to gasp from the surprise before their mouth on hers and she smiled at the familiar taste of his mouth, knowing it was Derek who'd pinned her. Melting into the kiss and the moment with him she let all of her fear fade away as she grabbed onto the back of his head and neck, his hair was damp with sweat from taking the long way through the woods to sneak up on her but she didn't care. She was just happy to be around him and in his arms.

His fingers tangled in her hair and he leaned in farther against her, his body pressing against hers as she played with the back of his hair and moaned against his lips when his hands started to trace the contours of her body and she wanted him –all of him more than she'd ever wanted anything in her entire life.

Breaking the kiss, her bottom lip poked out slightly in a pout as she ran her hands up his chest and rested them on his shoulders as she breathlessly said, "That's not funny… you can't just be sneaking up on me like that, there's assassins out there. What if I'd hurt you?"

Leaning back in her captured her lips in another heated kiss before he said, "Well, I'm the one who pinned you against the house... so I don't think you need to worry about that."

He watched in the dim lighting of the fast setting sun and saw her eyes started to come alive the longer she looked at him, reaching up she started to pull his face back to hers as her eyes lingered on his lips and she softly whispered, "Maybe I wanted you to… maybe I let you win."

She leaned forward to kiss him but he leaned back slightly as looked at her, his eyes slowly tracing every feature of her beautiful face as he thought to himself how truly lucky he was to be back with her, that despite everything, he was getting a second chance to be with her and do things the right way.

"What?" She asked, her voice barely audible through the crickets chirping and other sounds of the woods coming alive for the night.

"Just thinking." He quietly answered.

Catching the look in his eyes she started to ask why he was giving her that look for and what he was thinking about, but she didn't get the chance when his mouth was back on hers. Immediately her entire body came alive in response to his touch, with every passing second their breathing hastened and heart beats sped up rapidly.

Running her hands down his upper body she grabbed onto the soft fabric of his shirt and pulled it up only breaking their kiss long enough to pull it over his head.

Trailing her hands over his bare muscled flesh she leaned her head back and bit down on her bottom lip trying to keep from moaning loudly as his lips moved to the side of her neck his mouth felt like liquid silk on her skin causing her breathing to pick up even more.

Just as his lips were back on hers and his hands slid up her sides towards the bottom of her sports bra, they both stopped when they heard some leaves rustle nearby. They both stared in the direction of the noise with wide eyes, moments later a squirrel ran out and up the trunk of a nearby tree causing them both to laugh and breathe a sigh of a relief.

She leaned her head back against the tree and tried to catch her breath as he looked around noticing how dark it had gotten and that the only thing he could see in any direction was more woods; there was no paved trail or even a beaten walking path anywhere to be found.

"What's wrong?" She asked seeing his change in mood.

"I just didn't realize how deep in the woods we'd gotten." He admitted, also thinking that he hadn't heard the squirrel until it had surprised them both.

Her heart was still beating wildly in her chest and she could see he was also still fighting for his breathing, only now he was starting to look more worried than anything.

Quickly she reached forward and grabbed onto him as she pushed her body against his and raised up claiming his lips in a heated kiss, in an attempt to get his mind off of the fact that they could possibly be lost in the woods at night. Because she didn't care if they were lost, in that moment she couldn't care less if they had to hike for hours to find their way out of the woods by morning –all she wanted was him, all she needed was to be his.

As he fell back into the passion of the moment, his arms curled around her, providing protection for her smooth skin from the rough bark of the tree, he made an inaudible noise against her parted lips as she arched her body into his arms created friction in an area already begging for her attention.

But as much as he wanted her, above all else he needed to keep her safe and he was aware it was harder to do that when he couldn't rely on his senses as much as before. "Avery…" He said into the kiss, as he tried to slow his heart and convince himself they needed to get out of the woods.

"Derek?" She responded her lips brushing against his chin as she kissed across his jawline and grazed her nails up the bare, muscled planes of his stomach.

"We should really…" He started to say they should get out of the woods that they had no idea how many assassins were out there, but she didn't let him finish his sentence as her mouth was back on his –kissing him with more intensity than before.

Somehow finding the strength to pull his mouth from hers he continued, "Get out of the woods."

Leaning back slightly she asked, "Why?"

He was about to start pointing out the list of reasons why they should at least try to make it back to the safety of one of their cars, but the list grew smaller and smaller as his eyes locked with hers and he saw lustful look in them.

Reaching up she held onto the back of his neck as she pressed her soft, full lips against his mouth, continuing to hold onto his neck with one hand while she trailed the other down his chest and stomach –chasing the last of his argument away when she unfastened the button and zipper of his dark jeans and slid her hand inside his pants and under the waistband of his boxers. Groaning loudly into her mouth, his hands tightened on her sides and his breath halted from her touch. Even if he had still wanted to get out of the woods, he had no argument left in him –not now.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much for reading! ^_^ Just a friendly reminder that both Miss E Charlotte and I have links to Blue Moon videos and our Tumblrs up on our profiles.**

**To: SmellYourScentForMiles, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, BloomingBlueMoon85, Iris RainbowWolf, Momsen-xxx, DancingDorisDay, xxxRena, rapunzelrose13, elephantXlove, guest and another guest – Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing chapter 19! We're glad you liked it.**


	21. Puzzle Pieces

**Chapter Twenty One – Puzzle Pieces**

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><p>"If you want these files so bad, why don't we just take them?" Derek asked as he looked over at Avery from the driver's seat of his car.<p>

"Because if we just take them someone could get in trouble." She argued.

"Someone like…" Derek questioned, waiting for her to fill in the blank.

"Like the sheriff." Avery answered as she flipped the visor down and used the light to check her make up.

"Or Parrish?" Derek guessed.

With a small sigh Avery closed the mirror and flipped the visor back up as she said, "Yeah, possibly him too… why?"

He tilted his head to the side, shooting her a knowing look.

"What?" Avery asked louder, her voice taking on a slightly higher pitch as she spoke.

He continued to stare at her in silence, knowing how badly she hated the silence and always felt the need to try and fill it.

"He's a really great guy… and at one time, yeah… I thought maybe…" her voice trailed off and she shook her head before taking a deep breath and saying, "But it doesn't matter, because he's not you."

Leaning over the console she pressed a kiss to his lips before pulling back slightly as she repeated, "He's not you." Her lips tantalizingly brushed against his as she spoke and he could still taste the sweetness of her mouth on his tongue.

Kissing him again she said, "I'll be right back."

He sighed as he watched her get out of the car and head into the building.

Once inside the almost empty police station she quickly found Parrish sitting in a back office by himself, leaned over the desk with a file open in front of him.

"Is that the Carrie Hudson murder?" She asked.

Jumping and slamming the file folder shut Deputy Parrish looked up at her and shook his head back and forth, with a worried expression as he asked, "Did you know her?"

"No… that name just sounds familiar…" She said, thinking she knew exactly where she'd seen that name before.

"What caused those marks around the stab wounds?" She questioned.

Sighing he said, "It's an open investigation… I can't talk about it."

"Come on, Jordan… who am I going to tell?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"It doesn't matter, I can't talk about it." He said as he started to open the folder again but stopped when she leaned over to look at it. Finally he admitted, "We know don't what weapon was used…"

Then his forehead lined with confusion as he asked, "What are you even doing here? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said with a smile, then added, "I'm actually here because I wanted to talk to you about the Carrie Hudson case… I know this sounds strange, but I need to see the case file."

He looked at her with a blank expression for a few seconds before his forehead lined and he asked, "I can't do that… and why would you want to look at it?"

"I can't really tell you that… I just need you to trust me here. I might be able to look at it and figure something out that the police can't." She said as she sat down in a chair facing the desk.

"That doesn't make any sense." He said. Sighing he rubbed his hands over his face and said, "Nothing in Beacon Hills makes sense. I don't understand how you keep ending up in the middle of everything that happens or why the sheriff took you and Derek to the school a few nights ago instead of police back up."

Avery pulled in a long breath and looked down to her lap, knowing how frustrated he must be to keep witnessing all of this strange stuff but not have the first clue what to do about it. The whole thing was a mess of a situation and she knew he was probably better off never finding out about her world; the world she lived in destroyed people, it changed them –normally for the worst and she didn't want that for him.

"Please… I really need to see that file." She pleaded.

After rubbing his tired eyes again he sighed, "It's an open investigation… I can't just let you look through the file."

She sighed and slumped down in her chair some until he stood up, placing a hand on top of the folder and said, "It's late and you should go home… I'm going to get some coffee."

Avery looked over to the file still on the desk as he started to walk away, she looked over her shoulder and flashed him knowing smile as she questioned, "Are you doing what I think you're doing, Deputy Parrish?"

Pausing in the doorway his eyes moved from the folder he'd left on the desk, back to the blonde teenager as he gave a small nod and replied, "Have a goodnight, Miss Dukate."

Once he was out of sight she sprang into action, opened the folder as she took her cellphone out and quickly took pictures of all of the papers and crime scene photos.

She put everything back in its place and headed back outside where she got into Derek's car and gave him a smile as she said, "Got it!"

"What good is the file going to go?" He questioned, as he backed out of the parking spot and onto the road.

Shaking her head she darkened the screen from the gruesome photos and said, "Carrie's murder was after the mute had been killed. Which means there really are several assassins in Beacon Hills, maybe even more. And just because we don't have the other two lists… doesn't mean the assassins don't."

He nodded understanding what she meant and also starting to fully grasp the severity of the situation. Looking over to her he saw her hands were slightly trembling as they laid in her lap, reaching over he took her hand his and gave her a small smile as she looked over at him surprised.

**~()~**

"This is a bad idea." Isaac breathed out, as he looked out the windshield, seeing the building that he had heard too many bad things about. The building that his girlfriend now wanted to break into to talk to someone who wasn't in their right frame of mind.

"I know it's a stretch, but it's the only idea we have." Teagan said, as she glanced over at the huge gate that had the words 'Eichen House' above it. She felt a chill down her spine the longer she stared at it.

She had never been to the place for real, but still remembered when she was in it during one of her horrible nightmares caused by her mother when she was haunting her. She couldn't help but think the place was probably a lot more terrifying in person, and so far that thought was right.

"Why can't you just ask Lydia?" Isaac questioned.

"Lydia has enough on her mind. She has barely left the lake house. She's trying to get the last two codes." Teagan explained.

"Yeah, but Meredith?" Isaac asked. "What makes you think she can help?"

"She has before." Teagan answered. "She helped us find Lydia. Maybe I can get her to talk to me and she can help again." She turned her head to look at Isaac, as she added,"Like I said, I know this is a long shot, but-"

"But we're doing this." Isaac interrupted. He reached out to grab her hand, knowing there was no talking her out of it. He gave her hand a squeeze, as he added,"Together." He smiled as he added,"It's you and me."

Teagan gave him a smile back, grateful that he was coming with her. He nodded his head toward the car door, as he said,"Come on."

The two stepped out into the dark night and began to walk down the sidewalk in front of the building, heading for the side of the building. Before leaving for Eichen house, Teagan had spoken to Malia; who told her a way to sneak into the place and the person to talk to in order to get to Meredith.

Isaac held on to Teagan's hand, as the two quickly ran over to the building, looking for the side door, Malia spoke of. Isaac glanced around, making sure no one had spotted them, then pulled the door open. He gestured for Teagan to go in first, then looked behind him one more time, before going in behind her.

"Where do we go now?" Isaac whispered in her ear, as he stood behind her. At the moment they were standing inside an empty kitchen.

Teagan reached out behind her, grabbing his hand, as she walked further into the room, making her way toward the door on the other end of the room. She slowly opened it, pausing for a moment when it made a small creak. She glanced behind her to look at Isaac, seeing if he heard anyone coming for them, but he shook his head, letting her know the coast was clear.

She continue to pull the door open enough for herself and Isaac to sneak out of it. She glanced around, seeing they were now in the middle of a short hallway. She latched on to Isaac's hand, and went to take a step, until he pulled on her hand, bringing her to a stop.

She turned to look behind her, seeing him first, the look on his face letting her know they weren't alone. Her eyes flickered over his shoulder to see an older man standing behind them.

"This isn't a bed and breakfast, you know?" The man stated, as the two teens turned completely around to face him.

"You're Brunski, right?" Teagan questioned, recognizing him from the things that Malia told her.

"Depends who is asking." He said back.

"Just answer the question." Isaac snapped, feeling Teagan squeeze his hand, telling him to calm down.

Brunski smirked at the teens, as he said,"You two are the ones trespassing. You don't get to ask the questions, I do."

"We're sorry." Teagan softly said. "We just really need to talk to someone."

"Then call a help hotline." Brunski said, as he turned around.

"Please!" Teagan called out, as she rushed forward to stop him. She reached out to grab his arm, then quickly jumped back when he brought out a taser.

"Teagan!" Isaac called out, as he stepped up behind her in case something went wrong.

"Please, it's important." Teagan added, as she held up her hands, trying to show him she wouldn't do anything else.

Brunski's eyes roamed over her, before he looked back at her face, a grin on his face, as he said,"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't call the cops right now."

"How about I give you a hundred of reasons?" Teagan questioned, as she reached into her front pants pocket and pulled out a hundred dollar bill.

"I think you need a few more reasons." Brunski stated.

Teagan sighed, as she reached back into her pocket and pulled out a few more hundred dollar bills. "How about five?"

"Five will buy you five minutes." Brunski explained.

"That's a hundred a minute." Isaac pointed out. "How is that a good deal?"

"I don't know. Maybe that is a question you can ask the cops after I call them." Brunski said back, as he shot Isaac a look.

"No, it's okay." Teagan said, as she stepped up. She turned to look at Isaac, pleading with him to go with this. She turned back to look at Brunski, holding out the money, as she said,"We'll take it."

Brunski smiled as he took the money from her, then said,"Who do you need to talk to?"

A few minutes later, Teagan walked into a small room and froze for a minute, as the nightmare from her mother came back to her. This was the type of room she was locked up in during that dream. The dream where her mother tried to convince her that her real life wasn't real. That she was just a sick girl with paranoid schizophrenia.

Before she could get too lost in her own thoughts, she heard Meredith say her name, causing her to turn her head and look at her. Teagan plastered a smile on her face, as she walked further into the room.

"Hi, Meredith."

"Teagan..." Meredith said happily. "Did you bring him?"

"Hey, Meredith." Isaac said, as he walked into the room, answering her question.

"He still has all the smiles." Meredith stated, as she looked over at Isaac.

"Yeah..." Isaac mumbled, as he rubbed the back of his neck, unsure what he should say.

Teagan smiled over at him, seeing how uncomfortable he was, then looked back over at Meredith. She walked closer to her, sitting on the empty bed across from her.

"Meredith, you remember when you helped us before? Helped us find our friend?" Teagan questioned.

"The red head." Meredith said with a nod, letting her know she remembered. "But I'm sorry about your other friend. That wasn't suppose to happen."

Teagan gave her a small smile, knowing she was speaking of Allison. She cleared her throat, trying to get Allison off of her mind, as she said,"We need your help again."

"I can't." Meredith quietly said, as she glanced around like she was looking for someone, even though there was no one else in the room with them.

Teagan glanced over at Isaac for a moment for help. He nodded his head, then stepped forward, as he said,"Meredith, I know we're asking for a lot, but will you talk to us? Please. It could be a matter of life or death."

"I know." She quietly said. She shook her head, as she added,"But I can't. I can't say." She turned her head to look at Teagan, as she began to say,"I want to help, but I can't. I..."

"You what?" Teagan asked, as she paused and continued to stare at her.

"You see it." Meredith whispered. A confused look came over her face, as she added,"You see it, but how. You're not-You're not suppose to, so how can you?"

"I'm not suppose to see what?" Teagan asked.

"You get pieces like a puzzle, but it doesn't make sense until you have all the pieces." Meredith continued, almost if Teagan never said anything. "But you're not suppose to have the pieces. Why do you have the pieces?"

"Meredith, what are you talking about?" Teagan asked, as she stood up from the bed. "What pieces?"

"This won't do. This isn't suppose to happen." Meredith said quietly to herself, as she rocked back and forth in the bed.

"Meredith!" Teagan called out, trying to get through to the girl.

"Teagan..." Isaac began to say, as he walked up behind her, laying a hand on the small of her back. "She's not going to tell us."

"No, but, she-she has to tell us. She has to!" Teagan argued, as she turned back to look at the other girl, calling out her name.

Isaac called out his girlfriend's name again, but before he could say anything else, Brunski came into the room, telling them their time was up.

"No! I need more time." Teagan argued. "I'll give you more money."

"Teagan!" Isaac called out, getting her attention. "Hey, hey, we got to go, okay?" As loud as they were being, he was worried someone else would over hear them, then they would all be in trouble.

When she nodded her head, agreeing with him, he wrapped an arm around her waist, leading her out of the room. The two didn't speak as they made their way out of the building and back over to the car.

"She knows something." Teagan mumbled, as they stopped beside the car. "She knows something about all of this and she's not saying."

"That may be true or maybe she knows nothing at all." Isaac pointed out. As she shook her head and began to pace back and forth, he reached out, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward him, as he said,"Hey, hey listen to me. Whatever is going on we will figure it out, this isn't the end, okay? This is just a small road block, but we'll figure it out."

He laid his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her closer, as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. He kissed the side of her head, then heard her softly say,"I just want it to stop."

"The dreams?" Isaac questioned.

She shook her head, as she pulled back to look at him. "The list. The dead pool. I just want to stop it."

"We will." He promised her.

"We can't lose anyone else." Teagan said, as tears filled her eyes. "And I can't lose you, Isaac."

He gave her a quick kiss, then rubbed his nose against her, as he quietly said,"You won't. It's you and me, Teagan."

"Always." She whispered back, as she rested her forehead against his.

She still wasn't any closer to solving the mystery and she couldn't help but feel like time was running out. She couldn't shake the feeling that things were going to get worst before they got better. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to take her from him. She just couldn't stop thinking that something was going to happen, something bad.

**~()~**

Avery looked up to see Derek walking down the spiral staircase in his loft, after shutting the lights off in the rest of the loft.

Quickly lowering her head she wiped the stray tears from her cheeks and hoped he hadn't seen her watery eyes, but as he slid into the bed beside her and asked, "What's wrong… why are you crying?"

When she didn't answer he looked at her cellphone in her hand which was open to a picture of herself, Teagan and Allison. All three girls had their hair up in ponytails, with red faces from running. They were in the house that had belonged to Avery's mom after one of their first training sessions, back before things had gotten really serious with the alpha pack.

Looking from Avery and then back to the picture he frowned, knowing how much she was still mourning her friend.

Avery nodded brushing a few more tears from her cheeks as she explained, "I had a missed call and voicemail from Scott and after I listened to it –I was deleting old messages mainly from Teagan and Stiles and then all of a sudden…" She swallowed hard pinning her eyes shut as she continued, "I heard Allison's voice…"

Scooting back against the padded headboard he pulled her against his side as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close against him. Snuggling closer against him she continued to look at the picture on her phone.

She always missed Allison, every single second of every single day there was a constant ache from not having one of her best friends by her side. Some days we're more difficult than others and today was one of those days where the pain was just as fresh as the day she'd lost her.

Gently taking the phone from her hand, he brought it closer to him to look at the picture and with a small sniffle Avery raised her head and looked at him as she asked, "What?"

Zooming in on the small part of the a table visible behind the girls he handed it back to her and raised his eyebrows in question, shooting him a confused expression she took the phone back and looked at the screen.

Avery pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she glanced over at him. He'd zoomed in on a part of the table displaying several weapons, everything from different styles of guns to daggers there was even a grenade and a pair nunchucks off to the side.

"You know Allison trained me and Teagan." Avery pointed out.

"Yeah… but Avery, that is a lot of weapons." He pointed out, keeping his eyes on her as he continued, "Besides, I thought what you'd learned from her was mostly self-defense… not actual hunting."

Putting her phone down on the floor next to the bed she started to explain, ""Well, I was also trained to fight… trained to survive and all of those skills I have now, have saved my ass more time than I can count. And everything I've learned… every single thing I learned from Allison." She explained, then after a pause she breathed, "I know she wasn't exactly your favorite person in the world… but I'm alive because of her, we all are."

"I know." He quickly said but then added, "I just don't like the idea of you being a hunter."

Scooting out of his arms she looked up at him and said, "I'm not a hunter, Derek. Not really… it's not like I spend my weekends hunting werewolves. I just have the same skills…"

He raised his eyebrows as she added in, "And we live by a code."

"You say you're not a hunter but then you say things like, 'we live by a code'. You know that makes you sound like a hunter, right?" He asked.

She stared at him knowing he had every right to react that way, he'd had nothing but horrible, traumatic, painful experiences with hunters.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "I don't consider myself a hunter, not really. And that code I was talking about… it's that I'll protect those who can't protect themselves. It has nothing to do with hunting."

He nodded and watched her closely as she looked down to her hands and noticed her left one was trembling a little, something it did from time to time after Kate had broken her fingers and sliced open her wrist.

Holding it still with her right hand she said, "I know why you feel like that, I've been hurt by hunters too. But Derek, you have to understand and know me well enough to know that I wouldn't turn into something like Kate-"

He cut her off with a heat kiss as he claimed her mouth with his.

She knew deep down there was probably a part of him that no matter how much he loved and trusted her, that feared the deeper she got into that world the more it could completely change her.

Pulling back from the kiss her mind drifted back to dinner with Scott's dad, Stiles and young Derek. She thought of how normal Derek had seemed as a teenager, he was happy, had hope and seemed like an entirely different person than the Derek Hale she'd started dating at the beginning of her sophomore year.

It wasn't just Derek either, she'd noticed how much her friends had changed in the short time they'd all been swallowed up in this world full of supernatural beings. None of them were as happy or as carefree as they were before they found out about werewolves, but a small selfish part of her was still glad it had happened.

If Scott had never gotten bitten and turned, then he'd had never tried to kill her and Stiles in the locker room the day she found out werewolves were real. If it hadn't been for that day she wouldn't have gotten to be friends with either of them, Derek would have never had a reason to talk to her in the first place.

Everything in her life would have been entirely different in some ways probably for the better –safer for sure, but in other ways it would have been empty and lacking purpose not to mention the friendships and strong bonds that would have never been formed.

"Why didn't you tell me you loved egg rolls?" She finally asked, causing him to lean back with a confused expression as he laughed and asked, "What?"

"When you were aged backwards and we were at the awful dinner with Scott's dad… you really seemed to love the egg rolls, like they were one of your favorite foods." She continued, her eyebrows pushed together and her tone serious as if her not knowing he loved egg rolls was a bigger deal than the dead-pool.

With a shrug he continued to watch her as said in an unsure tone, "It just never seemed like a big deal, I guess I didn't know that was important to you?"

She sighed and pinned her eyes shut as she breathed, "I know it sounds stupid but it is important to me."

He stared at her for a little while, trying to determine if she was really upset because he didn't tell her that or if she was joking. But by all accounts she seemed serious.

"Then… I guess I'm sorry I never told you." He apologized causing her to shoot him a look.

"I don't mean just that… I just, I don't know…I just think little things like that are more important than we think. We're all so wrapped up in fighting for our lives all of the time that I think we really forget to live in the meantime. And things like our favorite foods –those seemingly insignificant things are what makes us –us."

Letting go of the breath she'd been holding she slid down in the bed and put her hands over her face as she mumbled, "Oh my god, I sound like a complete idiot…"

"No, you don't." He assured her as he gently pulled her hands from her face and leaned over as he stared down at her, "I get it."

When she raised her eyebrows in disbelief, he continued, "You're right… I just never really looked at that way."

Reaching she held onto the side of his face as she smiled at him, before bringing his face down to meet hers.

Right before their lips touched he whispered, "And now that the secrets out… we can get Chinese, all the time."

Laughing she raised up slightly pressing a quick kiss to his lips before she shook her head back and forth as she said, "No! Not all the time, every single time I let Teagan pick what we're eating she always picks Chinese."

Derek smiled at the sound of her laughing and he started to kiss her but she kept talking, "Even though… maybe you guys can bond over your love for Chinese food or something!"

"I don't think liking the same food is going to make her like me." He argued, trying to kiss her again but she argued, "Well, you guys are going to have to get along…"

"I'm not the problem." He pointed out, "She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you! She just doesn't like you very much…" Avery laughed, as she ran her hands up his chest and reasoned, "But you have to admit, you've given her some really valid reasons not to."

Sighing he asked, "Why are we still talking about Teagan?"

"Well… because she's going to find out about us and she's not going to be very-" Her voice trailed at the feeling of his mouth on her neck.

Closing her eyes she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and held back a moan as she ran her fingers through his hair and her body arched up from his bed.

"Derek…" She breathed out in slightly helpless tone as her heart picked up more speed by the second.

"Hmm?" He hummed against her skin.

"I'm serious… Teagan-" Avery tried to say but didn't get to finish as he claimed her mouth in a heated, passionate kiss that sent chills throughout her entire body. Pulling back his face was barely an inch from hers as he pointed out, "I'm serious too… the last thing I do want right now is to talk about Teagan."

She laughed against his lips as she pulled his face back down to hers and said, "You're right… no more talking about Teagan."

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><p>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- We hope you all liked the chapter! ^_^**

**Thanks to: elephantXlove, SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, Daydreamer's Light, Iris RainbowWolf, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, guest and to rapunzelrose13 for reviewing chapter 20!**


	22. It's Always You and Me

**Chapter Twenty Two – It's Always You and Me**

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><p>After a letdown weekend, everyone returned to school with no new information. They still had no clue who had killed Demarco or Carrie, they still did not have the other two key words and Teagan still had no idea whose memories she was dreaming of.<p>

With Isaac's help, she searched every book in her house, but none was the book from her dream. Isaac thought maybe it wasn't about a book, that maybe it was about something else, but she knew that book was a big clue, if she could only find it.

She knew the book, she could see it in her mind, but she couldn't remember the title of it, which was driving her crazy.

She was still convinced if she saw the book, she would recognize it, which was why she was in the school library during her free period, glancing at all the books in there. Maybe she had seen the book in there one day while she was in the library, maybe that is how she knew the book.

She was in the middle of one of the many aisles, her eyes scanning over the books, trying to find the old, leather bound book that was in her dream, when Isaac walked into the room. He searched down the different aisles, following her heart beat until he saw her.

"Hey! There you are." He exclaimed, causing the librarian to shush him. He shot her a look, apologizing, then made his way down the aisle toward his girlfriend, with his gym bag on his shoulder and holding his lacrosse stick.

Teagan couldn't help but chuckle every time the stick hit one of the bookcases, causing the librarian to shush him again. A small snort escaped when he hissed out toward the older woman,"I said I was sorry!"

She ignored his comment, as she placed a finger against her lip and whispered out a,"Shh!"

Isaac shook his head, as he let out an annoyed sigh. He turned his head to look at Teagan, noticing she was biting her lip and trying not to laugh again. He grabbed her hand, pulling her toward the back of the room, far away from the old, cranky librarian.

"That old woman hates me." Isaac quietly said, once the couple made it to the back of the room.

"It's not you. She just doesn't like it when people disrespect books." Teagan explained. She had been in the library before when the older woman had fussed at different students.

"How is my talking loud, disrespecting the books?" Isaac questioned. "They are just books."

Teagan let out a dramatic gasp, as she reached up to touch one of the books in front of them. "They have feelings, you know?" She joked, causing him to shake his head and chuckle.

"So, are you in here for school reasons or..." Isaac began to say. When she turned to look at him, he knew exactly why she was in there. He let out a sigh, as he continued,"You're still looking for the book."

"I have to find it." Teagan stated, knowing what he was going to say. The same thing he had been saying all weekend, after searching through every book she owned, he was starting to think maybe the book that she thought she was looking for didn't exist.

It wasn't that he didn't believe her, but after telling him about looking at a book at the lake house, he was starting to wonder if that is where the book dream came from.

That book was still on her mind and she dreamed about it. She said it was just an old book of creepy fairy tales, but she knew that wasn't the book she dreamed of. The one she dreamed of was different, and all he wanted was to not see her stress out over this. He didn't want to see her obsess over it. He didn't want to lose her in these dreams.

He had almost lost her before cause of dreams, the horrible dreams cause of her mother. He didn't want to see that again.

"I know what you're thinking." Teagan said, seeing the look on his face. "You think I'm getting obsessed with this."

"I don't think it, Teagan, I know it. I see the look on your face and I know you are obsessing with this." He said back. "You keep saying this is different, but the look on your face..." He lightly ran his fingers under her eyes, he could tell she was stressed and she was tired. "This look right here, is exactly like before and that scares the shit out of me."

"I'm okay, Isaac. I promise you, I am okay." Teagan softly said, as she laid her hands on either side of his neck. "Just trust me."

"I do. I trust you with everything, Teagan, but I also love you more than you'll ever know, and I don't want to lose you."

"You won't." Teagan said, as she leaned forward to give him a tender kiss.

He rested a hand on her side, as he laid his forehead against hers with a sigh. He trusted her words, but her actions were still scaring him.

She gave him one more kiss, then pulled back to look at him. Her eyes glanced over at the bag and lacrosse stick he had, as she questioned,"I thought you didn't have practice today since there is a scrimmage tonight?"

"There wasn't suppose to be one, but Coach wanted us all to either lift weights or be on the field during our gym classes." He explained. He nodded toward the stick in his hand, as he continued,"I picked the field. No way I could be stuck in a room right now. I needed to be out there; running, tossing balls, doing something physical."

He had too much nervous energy in him. Between her dreams, the dead pool, the new beta, Kate, as well as everything else going on, he was on edge. Every day was starting to feel like a full moon to him; like he was only one step away from snapping. He hadn't had this much trouble staying under control since he was turned, but lately he could feel his temper slipping more and more. He had to work extra hard to stay in control.

"Now I'm all sweaty and need to shower before next class. Will you hold my stuff until I get back?" He questioned, referring to his gym bag and lacrosse stick.

"Yeah. I'll put it with my stuff." Teagan said, as she took the stuff from him. With his bag and stick in hand, she walked over to a table on the side, where her book bag was sitting.

She laid his stuff on the table with hers, then turned around to face him. He laid his hands on her hips and shot her a wink, as he said,"Unless you want to join me for another physical activity."

"I'm pretty sure the librarian would think sex near books is a big no-no too." Teagan pointed out with a chuckle.

Isaac grinned as he leaned forward to kiss her. He kisses across her jaw, before whispering in her ear,"Not if she doesn't catch us."

"Hmm." Teagan mumbled, as she bit her bottom lip. She ran her hands up his chest, resting her hands on either side of his neck, as she said,"I do love when my man is all sweaty."

Isaac grinned at her words before he pulled her closer to him and pressing his lips against hers. He slipped a hand under the bottom of her shirt, running his hand across the small of her back, the flesh on flesh contact giving her goosebumps.

"The library? Really?" They heard someone say. They pulled apart and turned their heads, seeing Avery walking over toward them.

"You two will do it anywhere, won't you?" She joked, as she came to a stop beside the couple.

"Not when you're around, which is always." Isaac pointed out. "Why are you always cockblocking, Dukate?" He joked.

"Hey, I'm the one who gave you two toys to play around with, and let's not forget the book I recently let you borrow." Avery pointed out. "If anything, I am trying to get my girl laid. Maybe you just need to find a more private place. I can give you a list."

Isaac shook his head and chuckled at her comment before kissing the side of Teagan's head, as he said,"I need to go shower. I'll see you two later."

"The locker room is a good place. If you go all the way to the back, there is this little corner on the right. Even if the locker room is full with people, no one can see you in that spot." Avery stated.

"I actually know what spot you are talking about. Why didn't I ever think of that?" Isaac questioned out loud.

"Told you! You need better spots." Avery pointed out.

Isaac glanced over at Teagan, as he raised his eyebrows, as if asking if she wanted to join him in the locker room. Before she could answer, Avery; who saw the look, spoke up and said,"You can't use that spot now though. I need my bestie now."

"Cockblocking again. You're such a hater, Dukate." Isaac joked.

"You can throw it on her later. But, FYI, the library is a terrible place for you two to do it. There are no good hiding placings." Avery said, then added,"And we all know Teagan can't be quiet."

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she shook her head, feeling her face turn red. She pointed to her boyfriend, as she said with a laugh,"You, go shower and stop telling people I'm loud in bed."

As Isaac held up his hands to tell her he was innocent, Avery spoke up and said,"Yeah, Isaac didn't tell me. Stiles did."

"I'm going to kill him." Teagan mumbled, as she rubbed her forehead.

"He was going on about how the quiet and shy ones are the loudest. I guess you proved his theory." Avery added. She looked over at Isaac, as she continued,"I also found out that you are actually good in bed despite the fact that you look at porn. Apparently that theory is not correct."

As Teagan blew out a breath, Isaac laid a hand on the back of her neck, giving it a massage, as he said,"You're not killing him, cause I am."

"You two don't have to worry about killing him. He won't run his mouth to anyone else about it." Avery said, putting the couple at ease.

"You threatened him, didn't you?" Isaac asked with a laugh.

"Maybe a little." Avery said, smiling.

Isaac chuckled at her comment, he would have loved to have seen that. He knew how Avery could get and he could just imagine the look of horror on Stiles' face. He nodded his head in approval, then gave Teagan a quick kiss, before leaving the girls alone to talk.

"Wow, out of everything going on right now. A new beta, a dead pool, Kate... Stiles chooses to talk about my sex life." Teagan said with a sigh, as she sat down at the table.

"Yeah, well, that's Stiles for you." Avery added, as she sat down across from her, causing her brunette friend to nod her head in agreement.

"So what did you need to talk about?" Teagan questioned.

"Carrie Hudson." Avery said, as she pulled out her cell phone, pulling up the pictures of the crime scene photos she had taken while at the station.

"Oh, my God, A! Where did you get these?" Teagan asked, as she placed her hand over her mouth, feeling sick.

Avery glanced around, making sure no one was near by, as she leaned across the table to whisper,"I talked to Parrish at the station."

"He showed you these?" Teagan asked surprised.

"No, but he was nice enough to conveniently leave the file unattended while he left the room." Avery answered with a small smile, as she thought about the huge favor he did for her.

"Wow that was nice." Teagan mumbled, as she looked up from the phone. "I mean, really nice. Maybe even something you would do for someone who is more than a friend.." She added nonchalantly, wondering what exactly was going on between her blonde friend and the deputy.

"We're just friends, T." Avery pointed out. Hoping to change the subject, she flipped through the pictures, looking for one that showed the wounds better, then zoomed in on it, as she said,"But look at this? She was stabbed, but what are those marks around the wound?"

As Teagan shook her head, Avery ran a hand through her hair, as she added,"I've been racking my brain for days trying to figure out what would cause that."

Teagan wrinkled her nose, trying not to get sick, as she picked up the phone, looking at the picture closely. Like Avery, she was trying to figure out what would cause a circular design around a stab wound.

After not figuring out what could cause the weird design, she sat the phone down, then looked back up at Avery, trying to get the subject back to the deputy the pictures came from. "So, Parrish..."

"T, I told you-"

"Yeah, but Avery, I've seen the way he has looked at you. I've even seen the way you have looked at him." Teagan said back. "I mean, I know there is the whole age thing and you don't know what is going on with you and Derek at the moment, but-"

"Well, actually..." Avery interrupted. She took a deep breath, dreading this conversation but knew it had to happen, and there was no time like the present. "I finally know what is going on with me and Derek... We're back together."

"Wow." Teagan breathed out. She grabbed a book from the table, pretending like she was looking for something, as she mumbled out,"Well, okay then. We're back on the Derek train."

"Come on, T, don't be like that." Avery pleaded.

"Do you know what happened when someone falls off a train, Avery?" Teagan questioned, as she slammed the book shut. "They get hurt!"

"Why are you talking about trains?" Avery asked, playing dumb.

"Don't do that. You know exactly what I'm trying to say." Teagan said back.

"Teagan.." Avery began to say, as she blew out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. "I know you don't like Derek, and you have your reasons, but those reasons are past reasons. He's not that Derek anymore."

"So what, he's Derek nice doppelganger or something?" Teagan asked sarcastically.

"No." Avery said with an eye roll. "He's different, T. This time is different."

"I guess I just have to see it to believe it. Cause all I can see, is the times he hurt you and left you when you needed him. The time he kicked Isaac out in the pouring rain, after he threw a glass at him! Do I need to go on?" Teagan questioned, as she stood up from the table, grabbed her bag and Isaac's bag. She reached out to grab his lacrosse stick then groaned when she accidentally knocked it from the table.

"No, you don't have to go on, you..." Avery began to say, as she bent down to pick up the stick. Her words trailed off, as she looked at the bottom of the stick an idea coming to mind.

"What?" Teagan asked, wondering what she was about to say. When she saw her looking at Isaac's lacrosse stick while deep in thought, she added,"A? What are you thinking?"

"Lacrosse." Avery quietly said, as she turned the stick upside down, taking the cap off on the end. She raised her eyes to Teagan, as she stated,"A lacrosse stick. That's what it was."

"That means..."

"The assassin is on the team." Avery finished for her when she saw her getting upset.

"And there is a game tonight." Teagan added with wide eyes. "Something bad is going to happen tonight."

**~()~**

After realizing the new assassin was on the team, Avery and Teagan raced out of the library, ignoring the librarian; who yelled at them to stop running. They met up with a confused Isaac in the hallway; who was on his way back to them after taking a shower.

"What's going on?" Isaac asked, as he threw out his arms in confusion when the girls ran passed him.

"It's a player." Avery called out, as she turned around long enough to toss the lacrosse stick at him.

"What's a player?" Isaac asked, feeling even more confused.

"The assassin. He's on the team." Teagan explained.

"Shit." Isaac breathed out, as he ran a hand through his hair. It was already bad enough knowing people wanted them dead for money, but to know it was a teammate and not some stranger was unsettling.

"So where are you two going?" He questioned.

"To find the murder weapon." Avery stated.

"If we find it, we can find the assassin." Teagan added, as she walked over toward him. She grabbed his hand pulling him forward as they began to walk down the hallway together behind Avery.

"Yeah, but-"

"We don't have time for you buts, Lahey." Avery said, interrupting him. Whatever he had to say could wait, but first thing first, they needed to find the weapon.

Avery threw the door open to coach's office and lowered her eyebrows in surprise when she saw Scott, Stiles and Kira were already in there searching all the lacrosse sticks.

"What are you doing?" Avery questioned them, as Teagan and Isaac walked in behind her.

"Looking for a stick that has a dagger in it." Stiles answered, as he threw a stick down on the desk with a frustrated sigh when he saw nothing was it.

Assuming they would be confused, Scott added,"Stiles saw the crime scene pictures and there was this mark around the wounds on Carrie. It came from-"

"A lacrosse stick." Avery interrupted.

"Right, a lacrosse stick." Scott said with a nod.

"So now we are searching for it, but..." Stiles began to say until a thought hit him. He lowered his eyebrows in confusion, as he looked over at the blonde and asked,"Wait, how did you already know this?"

Avery felt her eyes widen when she realized she was caught. There was no explanation on how she could have seen the wounds, unless she had an inside source, which she did, but he couldn't know that. But even when she was caught, she would never admit the truth, meaning she would have to lie her ass off. The last thing she wanted to do was get Parrish in trouble after he went out of his way to help her.

She blew out a breath, as she shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal, and said,"Everyone knew."

Stiles shook his head, as he began to argue,"That detail was never released. You couldn't have known that."

"Apparently someone is not doing their job then cause I knew about it." Avery argued back.

"Yeah, Stiles, even I knew." Teagan lied, trying to help sell Avery's lie.

"When did you hear about it?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at his girlfriend. He had just spoken to her a few minutes ago in the library and she never mentioned this detail to him.

"I, uh, I heard it... Um-"

"After you left the library." Avery interrupted. Seeing that Teagan was having a hard time lying to him. "While we were sitting there a group of freshman came in talking about it and we overhead it." She added.

She blew out a small sigh of relief when the rest went back to what they were doing, accepting their story. Scott sighed, as he tossed another stick on top of the other sticks they had already looked at.

"This... This is pointless. Most of the team plays with their own gear." He pointed out.

"That's what I was going to say earlier, but someone didn't have time for my buts." Isaac said, as he glanced over at Avery.

Stiles looked over at them with a confused look, then glanced at Avery, as he said,"I can't talk about sex but you can talk about butts?"

"We weren't talking about butts, as in ass, we were talking about buts." Avery pointed out.

"Besides you weren't talking about sex, you were talking about my sex life." Teagan added.

"Okay I have no idea what you just said." Stiles said, as he pointed at Avery. He looked over at Teagan, as he added,"And I'm sorry for telling people you are loud in bed."

"People?! Who else did you tell?" Teagan questioned.

"I'm going to kick your ass." Isaac threatened, as he shot Stiles a look.

"We're getting off the subject here." Stiles pointed out, avoiding her question and Isaac's threat.

"Maybe instead of trying to find a lacrosse stick with a hidden dagger in it, we should be trying to get the game canceled?" Kira spoke up, desperately trying to change the subject.

"I agree." Teagan said, as she reached out and grabbed Isaac's hand. As soon as she and Avery figured out it was a player on the team, all she could think about was protecting Isaac, somehow keeping him from the game.

Scott shook his head to disagree, as he said,"The game's the best way to catch him red-handed."

"But what if he's red-handed 'cause his hands are covered in the blood of the person that he just stabbed to death?" Stiles pointed out, as he threw out his arms. He gestured toward his supernatural friends, as he added,"Which, by the way, could be either of you guys."

"Or Liam." Teagan quietly added, causing Isaac to shift uncomfortably. He knew she was worried about all of her friends, but it bothered him anytime she worried about Liam as well. They didn't even know Liam, he was just some newbie, freshman, so why did she even care?

"He not even on the list." Isaac pointed out.

"Well, we don't have the whole list and he could be on it." Scott said back.

"Anyone can be on the other list." Teagan added.

"Has anyone heard from Lydia lately?" Kira questioned. "Has she had any luck with the other codes?"

"No, but I'll text to be sure." Avery answered, as she pulled out her cell phone. She noticed the crime scene pictures were still up on her phone, then quickly closed them when Stiles leaned toward her to look at her phone. She shot him a look, telling her to mind his own business, as she sent Lydia a text, asking if she came up with a code yet and if she needed help.

"We don't know anything about the list. How it's made, how it's updated. I mean, who's been out taking a supernatural census anyway?" Stiles questioned.

"How do they even know about me?" Kira wondered out loud. She didn't even know what she was until recently, so how did someone else know?

"They know about everyone." Scott pointed out.

"But who is 'they'?" Isaac questioned. "As much as I hate to agree with him, Stiles is right. We still know nothing about where the list comes from or who started it."

"And we don't know how many assassins there are out there." Teagan added. "We know there is one on the team, but how do we know if there is only one? There could be a team working together or something. Who knows how many students are walking away with that list in their hands."

"Not to mention the countless of other people who got it and just came to town to take us out for a quick payday." Avery added.

"Maybe we should get the game cancelled." Kira spoke up and said, repeating her earlier thought.

"I think Kira's right. I think we should stop the game." Stiles said, as he nodded over toward her.

"I agree." Teagan said, as she felt Isaac squeeze her hand. He could tell by the spike in her heart rate that she was terrified.

"I'm not afraid." Scott stated, as he stood up straight. He wasn't going to let assassins or a dead pool scare him away. He was an alpha, he needed to be a leader and lead his pack in this war and trust they would all walk out together on the other side.

"Neither am I." Kira said, as she stared at Scott. It didn't matter if she was scared or not, she trusted Scott and would be by his side no matter what.

"You know I'm not backing down." Avery added, as she glanced around at all her friends.

"Well, I am!" Teagan snapped. She glanced over at Isaac with wide eyes, before looking at the others, as she added,"These are assassins who want to kill you. Kill you dead, for money!"

"Exactly!" Stiles said, agreeing. "I'm not even on the list and I'm terrified." He pointed over at Teagan, as he added,"She's right. You guys, these are professional killers. It's their profession. One of them's got a thermo-cut wire that cuts heads off. Who knows what else they have?"

"Which is why we need to catch who is doing this. And if they're going to strike at the game, at least we are a step ahead." Isaac pointed out.

"But we're not a step ahead. We have no idea who it is." Teagan argued, as she looked up at her boyfriend, feeling tears fill her eyes. She hated the thought of him on that field with someone wanting to murder him.

"I know you two hate this plan." Scott began to say, referring to Teagan and Stiles. "But it's the only plan we have."

"And unfortunately you two lost the vote." Avery added, as she flashed Teagan a small smile. Knowing how much she hated the plan.

"Isaac?" Teagan questioned, as she turned her head to look at her, pleading for him to side with her on this.

"I'm sorry, babe. It's the only way." Isaac softly said, hating how badly this was hurting her.

Teagan blew out a nervous breath, feeling more tears fill her eyes. Isaac saw her lower her head, her bottom lip quivering and knew she was trying to hold back from crying. He laid hands on her shoulders, hoping to comfort her, but she pulled away from him and turned to walk out of the room.

Isaac sighed as he glanced over at the others, letting them know he would talk to her. As he walked out of the room to go after his girlfriend, Avery got a text back from Lydia, telling her the latest plan to talk to Meredith somehow. She hoped maybe another banshee could help her unlock the two codes they needed. Avery told her she would meet up with her and Malia, she wanted to be there to help Lydia. She waved at Scott, Stiles and Kira, telling them she had to go before walking out of the room.

"Teagan!" Isaac called out, as he raced after her down the hallway. "Hey..." He called out, as he ran up behind her, reaching out to grab her arm and swinging her around to face him.

"Come here." He quietly said, when he saw the tears falling down her face. He wrapped her arms around her, holding her close, as she buried her face in his shirt.

"You can't play in this game, Isaac." Teagan whimpered out, as she gripped his shirt.

"I have to." Isaac breathed out, as he kissed the top of her head. "I can't run and hide. I can't show this asshole, whoever it is, that I'm scared of him."

"Well I am scared and you hiding is exactly what I want you to do." Teagan said, as she pulled back to look at him. "Whoever this person is, we know he has already killed once and you're pretty far up the list, Isaac. This person has already killed for 500 thousand, he won't think twice killing for 13 million."

When she opened her mouth to say something else, he pressed his lips against hers, stopping her in mid-word. He cupped her cheek, as he slowly moved his lips against hers for a gentle kiss. He pulled back to look at her, lightly running his fingertip against her bottom lip, as he whispered,"I love you."

"I love you too, which is why I-"

Before she could finished, he kissed her again to shut her up. He put all the love he had in that kiss, hoping to help calm her down. He pulled back again to look at her, as he laid his hand on the side of her neck, stroking her cheek.

"Hey, no, listen to me. I love you, okay? No matter what happens, I love you and because of that, I'm not scared and I'm not going to be scared." He gave her forehead a tender kiss, before pulling back to continued,"I told you before that we are stronger than anything that tries to tear us apart and I still believe that. I don't care how many assassins come after me, I'm not running or hiding, cause at the end of it, you and me will still be standing here stronger than ever."

He wiped the tears from her face, as he added,"It's you and me, Teagan. And I don't just say that to give us strength to get through whatever. I say it cause it's the truth. No matter what, it's always you and me."

He saw fresh tears fill her eyes as she nodded her head at his words. He pressed his lips against hers, tasting the salt on her lips, then pulled her toward him as he held her tightly against him.

He ran a hand up her back, cradling the back of her head, as he softly said,"I'm not going anywhere. I'm always right here, okay?"

He just hoped he never had to go back on those words. He would never willingly leave her, but that didn't mean others wouldn't try. He knew he was worth a lot dead right now, but he was honest before, he wasn't scared. The only thing he was ever truly scared of was not being with her. Anything else he could handle, but losing her was his worst nightmare.

**~()~**

After the final bell rang, signaling the end of school, Isaac stopped by his locker, then made his way to Teagan's locker to meet up with her. Something they did often, but he was surprised when he made over there and she was nowhere to be seen.

He lowered his eyebrows in confusion, then took a deep breath, trying to tune out all the other noise around him and just concentrate on her heart beat. He followed it down a few hallways, then sighed once he realized where it was coming from. She was inside the library again.

"Teagan." He hissed, as he walked down the aisle she was standing in. "What are you doing in here again?"

"Since the rest of you think it's such a great idea playing with assassins. I figured I only have a few hours to finally solve this mystery before something bad happened." Teagan stated, not taking her eyes off the row of books in front of her.

"Teagan..." He began to say, trying to get her attention. But when she wouldn't look at him, he yelled out her name again, as he grabbed her arm and turned her to face him. "You don't have to do this."

"Yes I do!" Teagan snapped back.

"No you don't!" Isaac argued back. "Teagan, I told you everything is going to be okay. Just trust me."

"I can't!" Teagan cried out, as she knocked a few books off the shelf on accident at her outburst.

"You don't trust me?" Isaac quietly asked with a heartbroken look on his face.

"No, I do." Teagan quickly said, not wanting him to get the wrong idea. She laid her hands on either side of his neck, as she raised up on her tip toes to kiss his lips. She pulled back to look at him, as she added,"I do, Isaac. I do trust you, but I just-I don't trust that everything is going to be okay."

"I'm not going to let anyone hurt you." Isaac softly said, as he locked eyes with her, showing her how serious he was.

"It's not me I'm worried about." Teagan whispered, as she slowly shook her head.

Isaac opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say a word, they heard the librarian gasp, before calling out,"What is going on back here?"

"I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Thompson." Teagan said, as she pulled away from Isaac to bend down and pick up the books she knocked over.

"I think you two need to leave." She stated. "Besides school is over anyways. You two shouldn't be in here."

"I'm sorry." Teagan said again, as she stopped in front of the older woman.

"I know it might be hard for some people to understand, but books are important." Mrs. Thompson, as she took the books from Teagan's hand. "Anytime you are lost or trying to solve something. You can find the answer in a book."

"What?" Teagan breathed out, wondering if the old librarian was actually trying to tell her something. Trying to give her another puzzle piece to go with all the other pieces she had.

"Come on." Isaac quietly said, as he nudge Teagan forward, realizing she had frozen up at the comment.

He wrapped his arm around her waist, leading her out of the library and down the hallway. Once they made it outside, she finally snapped out of it and pulled away from him, coming to a stop.

"Wait... We need to go back." Teagan said, as she pointed toward the door they just walked out.

"Go back for what?" Isaac asked.

"To talk to her. You heard what she said." Teagan said. "You can find the answer in a book."

"I heard her, Teagan, but it doesn't mean anything." Isaac argued. "You know how she is. She is obsessed with all those books. She wasn't trying to talk to you. She wasn't trying to give you some big hint, she was just making a randomly, weird, comment."

Teagan scoffed, as she shook her head, then looked off to the side. She knew she sounded as crazy as the librarian, but she knew the dreams meant something and she was desperate to solve it.

"Hey..." Isaac said, trying to get her attention, but she wouldn't look at him. Her attention was set on Liam, as he walked up to some other guy who just stepped off of the bus.

"Who's that?" Teagan asked, referring to all the guys walking off the bus.

Isaac looked over in the direction she was, before saying,"That's the team we are playing tonight. They're from Devenford Prep."

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out. Then turned her head to look at Isaac, as she added,"That's the school Liam was kicked out of, and I'm assuming those are his old teammates." She turned her head back to look at Liam talking to one of the guys; whose name was Brett, as she continued,"Teammates that are probably still pretty pissed about what he did to their coach's car."

Isaac listened in as Liam told Brett that he paid for it, referring to the car. He heard Brett say back he was going to pay for it, that they were going to break him in half and it'll be his fault.

"Yeah, they're still pissed." Isaac spoke up, letting Teagan know what he overheard.

"This day just got worst." Teagan mumbled, as she rubbed her forehead. Having an assassin on the team was stressful enough, but now knowing the opposing team was Liam's old school and they were planning to go after him made things worst. Liam already had an anger problem, she just hoped he could keep himself under control and not wolf out or hurt someone.

When she saw Scott and Stiles rush over to Liam, she began to walk over toward them, ignoring Isaac who called out her name, not wanting her to get involved. She reached Liam at the same time Scott did, the two stood on either side of Liam, as Scott laid a hand on his arm and began to pull him away.

Stiles quickly stepped forward, standing in front of Brett, as he said,"Hey, what's going on prep students? Welcome to our little public high school. How you doing?" When Brett just looked at him, not shaking his hand, he added sarcastically,"That's a firm handshake you got there. Uh, we're very excited for scrimmage tonight. Uh, but let's keep it clean, all right? No rough stuff out there."

"Or bring the rough stuff. We don't care." Isaac stated, as he came to a stop beside Stiles. He folded his arms across his chest, as he looked over the guys in front of him, showing them that none of them scared him.

"Easy for you to say, but I do care about the rough stuff. I care a lot. I'm trying to stay away from the rough stuff and the pain." Stiles said to Isaac.

Isaac shook his head and rolled his eyes at Stiles comment, then turned his head to the side, seeing Teagan softly speaking to Liam, while she and Scott tried to calm him down. He blew out an annoyed breath when he saw her lay her hand on Liam's arm.

"That's your girl, right?" He heard Brett question, getting his attention. He snapped his head back to look at the guy, seeing a smirk on his face as he realized he got under Isaac's skin. He knew which buttons to push now to set him off. He knew his weak spot.

"You know I heard when Liam came here, he planned to make captain, steal it from the other guy. Now I guess he just plans to steal your girl." Brett added with a laugh. He looked around Isaac, seeing Scott and Teagan leading Liam away, then said,"Looks like it's working too."

Stiles eyes widen when he hear Isaac let out a low growl. He quickly grabbed his arm, as he said to Brett,"All right, see you on the field." He turned Isaac around and pushed him forward as he added,"Go."

Stiles and Isaac rushed into the locker room, seeing Scott and Teagan trying to talk to Liam, but nothing they said made a difference, as he began to wolf out in front of them. Teagan called out Liam's name, trying to get him to listen to her, but all that resulted in was him letting out a loud growl as he took a step toward her like he was going to attack.

Isaac's eyes flashed yellow for a moment, as he rushed forward and pushed Liam back, causing him to slam back against the shower wall. Liam set his sights on Isaac, needing to release all of his anger on someone. He pushed off the wall, planning to go after Isaac, until Scott and Stiles jumped in front of him, while Teagan slipped in front of Isaac.

As she softly spoke to him, getting him to calm down; Stiles turned the shower above them on, as he and Scott held Liam under the water, trying to calm him down before he attacked them all.

"Okay, you calm yet?" Stiles questioned the young beta; who let out a loud roar in response.

Seeing that Isaac was calm at the moment, Teagan turned her head to look at Liam; who was still having a hard time controlling himself. She felt bad for him, she didn't know what it was like to be a werewolf. She had seen Isaac struggle with it from time to time, but she did know what it was like trying to hold on to yourself; not let the monster within take over.

She remembered all the times she had to battle her mother in her mind, every time she was hit with violent thoughts, she had to fight it. She couldn't help but think in way that was how it was to be a werewolf. Trying not to let the wolf part take over and try to hold on the human part of you.

Feeling bad for the younger boy, she made her way over to him, as Scott and Stiles held him back, not caring that the water was raining down on her and soaking her clothes. She stood in front of Liam, as she quietly said his name, trying to get his attention.

"Look at me, Liam." Teagan softly said. "Just concentrate on me, okay?" She added, seeing that he wasn't fighting against the other two as much once he locked eyes with her.

"Teagan, what the hell are you doing?" Isaac snapped, as he took a step forward, gaining Liam's attention now and causing him to struggle against Scott and Stiles again.

"Isaac, stay back!" Teagan called out, as she turned her head, looking at her boyfriend. She held up a hand, as she added,"Just stay back and trust me."

"Teagan.." He began to say, not happy with her being that close to out of control werewolf.

"Just trust me." She softly said, pleading with him to stay back.

He blew out a breath and nodded his head, watching her turn back to look at Liam. As he watched her touch him or speak to him, he squeezed his hand, feeling his claws pierce his skin, as he tried to keep his own anger under control.

After reaching out to Liam and seeing him began to calm down, Teagan glanced over at Scott, nodding her head to let him know it was safe to let him go. Stiles turned the water off, as Liam slid down the wall and sat down on the floor.

"Are you okay now?" Teagan asked, as she kneeled down in front of him with a concern look on her face.

Liam looked up at her, surprised that she was even helping him, especially after how he acted toward her at the party, but he was grateful that she was. He nodded his head, as he said,"Yeah. I'm okay."

Teagan gave him a small smile, as she patted his shoulder then stood up and turned around to face Isaac. She tilted her head to the side, seeing the look on his face, then walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, offering him some comfort.

He paused for a moment, his heart beating in his chest from the anger he was feeling, but as soon as her scent hit him, he quietly sighed and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and feeling his temper fade away.

Teagan continued to hold Isaac, running her fingers through his hair, as Scott and Stiles spoke to Liam, finding out that after he was kicked out of school, he was sent to a psychologist for evaluation and discovered he has Intermittent Explosive Disorder.

She released him and turned around to face the others as Stiles said,"I.E.D? You're literally an I.E.D? That's great. That's great." He looked over at Scott, as he added,"You gave powers to a walking time bomb."

"You don't take anything for it?" Teagan asked, as she looked at the young beta.

"Obviously." Stiles said sarcastically, as Liam shook his head.

"I can't play lacrosse on it. It makes me too tired." Liam explained.

"Okay. I think you should bail out of the game. Tell Coach your leg is still hurting." Scott suggested. With everything going on; them trying to figure out who the assassin is and trying to stay alive, the last thing they needed was Liam blowing up at an old teammate during the game.

"No, no! I can do this." Liam stated, as he stood up from the floor.

"Liam, I think Scott's right. I know you want to play, but just talking to an old teammate set you off, imagine what playing against them is going to do." Teagan pointed out.

"But I can do this! Especially if you're there." Liam exclaimed, as he looked at her for a moment. He turned his head to look at Scott, as he added,"Both of you. If you're both there, I can do it."

"It's just a scrimmage. The game doesn't even matter." Isaac pointed out. "There's something bigger going on tonight and we don't have time to baby sit you. Making sure you don't blow up over every little thing." He added, causing Teagan to shot him a look, telling him he wasn't helping.

"He's right." Scott said, then added,"Well, about the part that tonight is about something bigger. It's not just about the game. We think whoever killed Demarco might be on our team."

"Who's Demarco?" Liam asked confused.

"The one who brought the beer to the party. The guy who was beheaded. Remember?" Stiles questioned

"We think the person who ordered the keg killed Demarco." Scott explained.

"Liam?" Teagan questioned, when she saw the look on his face. She took a step closer, as she added,"Do you know who it was?"

"I don't know who ordered the keg." Liam said, as he shook his head. "But I know who paid for it."

"Who?" Isaac asked, as he stepped closer to Teagan, wrapping an arm around her waist. All of them waiting with bated breath to see what he would say, all of them feeling like this could be it. They could find out who the killer was and stop him before he killed again.

"Garrett." Liam simply said, taking the boys by surprise as Teagan thought about her talk with Garrett at the party.

Scott and Stiles looked over at Isaac and Teagan, as they looked over at them. They each gave each other a small nod. All of them feeling like they were finally one step ahead.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much for reading! ^_^ All the links to Blue Moon related videos are up on my page and there is even a list to a Blue Moon Masterpost on my Tumblr –everything you need to know about the series in on place. **

**Thanks to 19irene96, xxxRena, Iris RainbowWolf and Exuberance of Youth for reviewing chapter 21! ^_^ We really appreciate it guys!**


	23. Bad Idea

**Chapter Twenty Three –Bad Idea**

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><p>Teagan blew out a breath as she paced in front of the door. This was a bad idea, she knew it was a bad idea, but it's for Avery, which made it a good idea, right?<p>

She asked herself that question over and over again as she turned toward the door and reached out her hand, planning to knock.

She quickly pulled her hand back, having second thoughts. She shouldn't be here. She should be at the scrimmage, Isaac was waiting on her, but when she left the house to drive toward the school, she ended up here instead, at Derek's.

Ever since Avery told her earlier that day she was back with Derek she couldn't stop thinking about how it could all go wrong and how badly Avery could get hurt again. It's not that she didn't want her best friend to be happy, truthfully that is all she wanted, and she wanted to believe that Derek could change, but after all Avery had been through, she couldn't handle a heart break now.

When she heard the door slide open, she jerked her head up seeing Derek standing in front of her a bored look on his face as he said, "Are you going to pace in front of my door all day or is there an actual reason why you are here?"

"We need to talk." Teagan stated as she folded her arms across her chest. She shot him a look as she waited for a moment, before speaking up, "Are you going to keep being a dick or invite me in?"

Derek stepped back, he moved his arm to gesture for her to come inside. Then slide the door shut after she walked into the loft. He watched her look around, her back toward him. When she didn't turn around or say anything, he did. "So what do you and I need to talk about?" He questioned, then added, "If it's some kind of sex help with Isaac, I can't help you."

Teagan shook her head as she turned around to face him, a serious look on her face, as she simply said, "It's Avery."

"What's wrong with Avery?" Derek questioned, his attitude changing from snarky to worried with one mention of her.

"Nothing at the moment, but I'm worried what could happen to her." Teagan stated.

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?" Derek asked confused as he folded his arms across his chest.

"I know about you two, and she's been through too much to handle a broken heart right now." Teagan pointed out.

Derek sighed, as he shook his head then said, "Last time I checked, Avery is old enough to make her own decisions. She's not a child, Teagan."

"No, but she did just return home after a stint in a treatment center. She has been through too much-"

"You're right, she has. She basically lost her mother twice, and that was after she went crazy and tried to kill everyone she cares about." Derek pointed out, feeling like he needed to stick up for her. He knew she was still healing, but she was trying. "Not to mention all the other stuff that has happened to her and trying to take care of your problems too." He added.

"So it's my fault?" Teagan snapped, as she shot him a look. She already felt bad enough when her problems overwhelmed Avery, she didn't need someone pointing it out.

"No, I'm not saying that." Derek said back. He shook his head as he added, "Why do you always look at me like that?"

"Like what?" Teagan asked confused.

"Like I'm the bad guy." Derek answered then added, "I told you a long time ago, Teagan, I'm not the enemy. I know how important Avery is to you, but you have to understand, she is important to me too. I want her happy and safe just like you do."

"Maybe you do." Teagan stated with a shrug. "Honestly, there have been times that I thought maybe you did care, but then..."

"Then what?" Derek questioned when she paused.

"Then you do something to prove my first thought right." Teagan snapped. "You do something like choosing to start a pack over Avery; a pack that included my boyfriend by the way. Or how about the time you left her to go to South America. She was spiraling then and you just left her!"

"I didn't leave her." Derek argued. "I thought I was doing the right thing. I know coming in and out of her life was not helping and I thought she would be better off with me out of her life for good, but I was wrong."

"And how do you know being in her life now is a positive thing? Can you promise me you won't hurt her again? Can you promise me that my best friend is going to be okay?" Teagan questioned, as she shot him a look.

"No one can promise that." Derek pointed out.

"Then you know why I can't be supportive of this." Teagan said back. "I've seen her hurt, I've seen her in pain and I've seen her almost die. I can't lose her, Derek."

"Neither can I." Derek said. "It's different this time."

"So I keep hearing." Teagan mumbled, as she walked past him, heading for the door. She spoke her peace and felt like there wasn't much more to say. She couldn't help but think again that maybe she shouldn't have come. She didn't feel better about things, and she was already stressed and freaked out about the scrimmage that night. Maybe deep down she was only looking for a fight, a chance to scream and yell, and knew Derek would provide that.

She paused when she saw something on the floor. She picked it up, noticing it was one of Avery's more revealing bras. Once again, all he did was prove how right she was about him.

She scoffed as she turned around to look at Derek. She tossed the bra toward him, as she sarcastically said, "Yeah. It really looks different this time, Derek."

Derek caught the bra with one hand, and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything back, she slide the door opened and walked out, slamming it shut behind her.

**~()~**

"Should we even be wasting our time with this, I mean if the next assassin is on the lacrosse team shouldn't we be at the school?" Malia asked as she checked the time on her phone and saw the game had already started.

With an irritation laced sigh Lydia gripped the steering wheel of her car tighter and said, "If you wanted to stay at the school because of the game, you should have just said so."

Avery looked over the seat to where Malia was sitting in the back as the werecoyote looked back down to her phone and tried to remember everything she'd been told about being in a pack.

Taking a deep breath she said, "No, I need to be here. I'm stronger than the both of you put together and you're both on the dead-pool. Everyone else is at the game."

With a small smile at seeing their newest friend trying to put everything she learned about pack dynamics and what it meant to have friends that you don't abandon, Avery said, "You don't need to come with us if you don't want too, Malia. I can handle myself."

"Well, you can handle everything better with me." Malia confidently said as she pushed the doubts from her mind.

Avery and Lydia exchanged looks with small proud smiles at seeing how far their friend had come since joining their pack.

Once they reached the station and headed inside the sheriff met them at the doors; he started to lead them towards his office as he said, "I'm aware that this is probably about the dead-pool, but I can't let her leave the station… in about a minute I'm going to have to call Eichen House and let them know that she's here."

"Give us an hour." Lydia quietly said as they came to a stop outside of the office.

"You got fifteen minutes." He argued.

"A half an hour." Avery countered.

But when the sheriff shot her a look she stuttered, "Or… just fifteen minutes, that sounds good too."

After being ushered into the office the girls put their bags down next to the sheriff's desk and turned to see Meredith sitting on the couch. Just as Avery turned around she saw Deputy Parrish turning to close the door behind him as he walked into the room with them.

She looked at him wide eyed wondering what he was doing there and what he'd think about the questions they were going to have to ask Meredith.

As he turned back around their eyes met and he gave her a friendly smile before he crossed the room and leaned against the desk, trying not to look at the blonde teenager as she continued to stare at him with an unreadable expression.

"Go ahead, ask what you need to ask." The sheriff instructed the teens.

Malia and Avery stood back a few steps from Lydia as she gave the other banshee a friendly smile and handed her the cellphone. On the way to the station Avery had filled them in on how Meredith had claimed Stiles' phone was ringing and heard voices on it when they were trying to find Lydia at Oak Creek.

"Meredith, aren't you going to answer it?" Lydia questioned when the banshee didn't do anything.

Slowly she stood up and whispered, "It's not ringing."

Lydia blew out a heavy sigh of irritation and looked over her shoulder as she said, "That really worked great, A. Thank you."

The blonde rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest as she said, "What are you talking about? You're the one who gave her your phone, it's not like it was ringing."

Lydia's eyes widened and she glanced over to where both the sheriff and Deputy Parrish were looking at her with confused expressions.

"But I thought you…" Malia started to say until Avery elbowed her in the side.

With a groan of pain Malia held onto her side and looked at Avery confused but didn't finish what she was saying.

"Okay… Meredith, you came here to help us, right?" Lydia asked trying to be patient.

"You called me." The banshee said as if Lydia should have already known the information.

"What do you mean I called you?" The redhead questioned.

"I heard you." Meredith whispered.

"Oh my god…" Lydia breathed out as she rubbed her forehead and asked, "Anyone else wanna give this a shot?"

"Hi Meredith." Avery greeted with a smile.

"Avery!" Meredith greeted then pointed out, "You went away and got better again."

Avery's eyes widened as she shifted uncomfortably and glanced over to Deputy Parrish who was watching her, once their eyes locked he rubbed a hand over the back his head and she flashed him a quick smile and looked away.

The young deputy watched as Avery looked back to Meredith, "We need your help with something again…" Avery explained as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"You don't need my help… the darkness is barely there now." She cheerfully said.

Avery caught sight of the confused expression fall over the deputy's face as he looked from Meredith to Avery.

"What darkness?" Malia asked when the room stayed quiet.

"The darkness in her." Meredith answered pointing to Avery, then offered the blonde a smile as she restated, "You're better now."

Even though the girls words were confusing, the thing Parrish was most aware of was how Avery crossed her arms over herself and took a step back like she was trying to take up as little space as possible in the room.

Wanting to help Avery he took a step closer as he asked, "Meredith, can I ask you a question?"

As if she was seeing him in the room for the first time, Meredith looked at him as she straightened her posture and nodded with a smile to the young deputy. Avery smiled to herself thinking about how Meredith reacted the same sort of way to Isaac.

Kneeling down in front of her, he asked, "When you need help, when you need to find something, is there someone you reach out to?" His eyes moved to where Meredith was still holding Lydia's phone in her hand, "Maybe someone you call?"

Avery shook her head and smiled at how he so easily connected with people and could calm almost anyone down enough to open up to him. He didn't even know what they were trying to get out of Meredith and he was getting farther in his line of questioning than anyone else.

"That depends… different people for different things." She responded.

"So maybe there's a number that can help us? Someone we can call?" He asked her.

"Yes."

With a smile he continued, "Would you be okay telling us?"

"Yes."

Avery breathed a sigh of relief and Lydia took her phone back as she waited for the number. Meredith stared down to her lap and seemed to be concentrating hard as she said, "It's 2436." After giving those numbers she raised her head and looked around with a smile.

"Mere, we need a few more numbers." Malia instructed.

"No… that's the number." Meredith argued.

"Phone numbers are 10 digits." Malia said as she crossed her arms over her chest and raised her brows expectantly.

"That's the number."

"Meredith, phone numbers always have 10 digits." Lydia snapped harsher than she'd meant too.

"That's the number." The girl repeated, starting to seem a little frantic.

"Focus, Meredith! We need the other numbers." Avery loudly exclaimed at the same time Lydia yelled, "Meredith!"

"I think that's the best we're gonna get." The sheriff said to the group, as Parrish stood up and took a few steps back ending up next to where Avery was standing.

"No, there has to be more…" Lydia said under her breath, she wasn't sure how she knew –but she knew that Meredith wasn't telling them everything.

Seeing Lydia's expression, Avery knew that there was more that Meredith knew, she just wasn't being entirely honest.

Taking a step forward and laying her arms over her chest, Avery said, "Meredith, you're gonna tell us the rest of the number."

"But that's the n-number." She stammered out looking up to the blonde teen.

Malia looked around and sighed, the feeling of anxiety and tension in the air growing so thick she felt like she could hardly breathe in the room anymore.

"Just concentrate!" Avery yelled seeing her reluctance to tell them anything else.

"Avery." Deputy Parrish said as he gently laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to stop her from yelling at Meredith anymore.

She sighed and shook her head as she glanced over her shoulder at him before she slowly nodded, silently agreeing that she'd stop yelling at Meredith.

But Lydia wasn't letting up, she needed help cracking the other two codes and she knew Meredith was their last and best hope at getting what they needed.

"Concentrate, Meredith!" Lydia shouted, but instead of an answer all she got was to see Meredith getting more upset as she started to shake her head repeatedly and yell back, "T-that's the… that's the number…. That's the number…"

"That's okay, sweetheart… we're gonna get you out of here." The sheriff said as he leaned down to help Meredith up off of the couch, but she slapped his arms away as she jumped up and yelled, "That's the number!"

With the sudden, shocking outburst Parrish instinctively pulled Avery back against him incase Meredith's verbal outburst started to turn into a physical one once he realized what he'd done and stepped away from her, before they both glanced at each other then he went to help the sheriff get Meredith out of the room to calm here down.

**~()~**

After leaving the loft, Teagan arrived at school. She made her way across the packed parking lot, heading for the field with everyone else. Even if it was just a scrimmage most of the town showed up to cheer on the team.

Any other time she would be excited about being at a game and cheering Isaac on, but not this time. This time it wasn't about winning or losing, it was about staying alive and staying away from Garrett; who may or may not be the assassin.

The closer she got to the field, the more nervous she became. She wrapped her arms around herself, as she walked past the bleachers and got closer to the field. Her eyes jumped around, looking for Isaac mostly, but also looking for Garrett too, making sure he was nowhere near any of her friends.

"Hey." Isaac softly said, as he came up beside her, trying not to scare her when he laid a hand on the small of her back. He heard her heart racing as soon as she stepped out of the car and knew she was freaking out.

"Hey." Teagan said back as she turned her head to give him a small smile.

"Okay, come here." Isaac said as he turned her around to face him. He laid his hands on her sides as he said, "I can't have my girl looking at me all sad like this."

He gave her forehead a tender kiss, then pulled her toward him, folding his arms around her and holding her tight, hoping his presence would calm her.

"Do I need to say it?" Isaac questioned.

Teagan pulled back to look at him as she shook her head and said, "No, I know. It's going to be okay."

"That's true, but that's not what I was talking about." He said. He reached up to cup her cheek, as he added, "It's you and me, Teagan."

While she smiled at his words he continued, "Remember that, okay? When you're sitting in the stands tonight freaking out while I'm on the field, just remember... It's you and me, okay?"

"Okay." Teagan said, with a nod. She stepped forward to wrap her arms around his neck as she whispered in his ear, "Just be careful, okay? Stay far away from Garrett and come back to me, okay?"

"I promise." Isaac said, as he ran a hand up her back before cradling the back of her head. He intertwined his fingers in her hair, pulling her head back to look at her, before pressing his lips against hers for a deep kiss. "I'm not going anywhere, babe." He whispered against her lips, before kissing her again.

She smiled at him, before wrapping her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Feeling eyes on her, she glanced off to the side for a moment, seeing Garrett watching them before he looked away, a smirk on his face and his lacrosse stick in his hands.

"What's wrong?" Isaac asked, when he felt her tense up. He glanced behind him, seeing what she saw, then turned back to look at her, as she said, "I know Scott doesn't want to make a move until we know for sure it is him, but I swear it has to be him."

"I mean, he paid for the keg, which means he probably ordered it or knew it was being ordered and then he killed Demarco." Teagan explained. "Plus there was our talk at the party-"

"Wait, what talk?" Isaac asked, confused. "You never told me, you and Garrett talked at the party."

"Honestly I forgot about it. I mean, it kind of creeped me out at the time, but then I just brushed it off as being paranoid." Teagan said. "Between the full moon and everything else that happened that night, I just thought I was on edge and reading into things."

"What did he say?" Isaac asked.

"It's not so much what he said, it's how he said it and the way it made me feel. I mean, if anyone overheard the conversation, it would just seem like a normal talk. A freshman just trying to talk up a junior." Teagan said. "He made a comment about how he knew who I was and who all my friends were. Then backed that up with the fact that me, Avery and Lydia are popular and all of you are on the team, which is true, but it just felt like he meant it as more. Like he knew who you all were, what you are. Maybe even know you all are on a list." She added with a shrug.

"He didn't threaten you, did he?" Isaac asked, as he glanced over at the boy in question, shooting him a look.

"No, it was nothing like that." Teagan said, as she laid a hand on his arm, getting his attention, wanting him to calm down. "Like I said, it was a normal conversation, but everything he said it felt like there was a double meaning to it. Like one time, he saw the scratches on my arm and made the comment that if someone did that to him, he would put it down."

Isaac lowered his eyebrows, a pained look crossed his face, as he looked down at her arm from when he scratched her during the last full moon. The marks had healed mostly, at least enough where she didn't have to bandage it up anymore, but he still hated himself for hurting her like he did. Maybe he deserved to be put down after that.

"Hey..." Teagan softly said, seeing the look on his face and knew he was beating himself up for causing the mark on her arm. She laid a hand on the side of his face as she added, "Stay with me, okay? Don't disappear into your guilt. It's okay, I'm okay, it was just an accident."

"I never should have lost it on you." Isaac quietly said as he ran his fingers against her skin where the cuts were. "I never want to lose my temper on you. But I keep doing it and I-"

Before he could finish his sentence, she pressed her lips against his to shut him up. She laid her hand on the back of his neck, running her fingers across his skin, causing him to moan in her mouth.

"It's you and me." She quietly said, repeating his words from earlier. "Anytime you feel yourself starting to slip, feel your temper get the best of you, just remember... It's you and me."

Isaac smiled at her words as he leaned forward to kiss her again as the coach blew the whistle, trying to round up his players. The scrimmage was about to start soon.

"I gotta go." Isaac mumbled against her lips, even though he made no move to walk away from her.

"Okay. Good luck." Teagan whispered back.

Isaac nodded his head at her words to thank her, before he pressed his lips against hers again. He ran a hand down her back until he reached her butt, giving it a squeeze. Teagan chuckled against his lips then pulled back to look at him as she asked, "What was that for?"

"For luck." He stated, as he shot her a wink and began to walk backwards.

Teagan shook her head and laughed at him before turning around and making her way toward the crowded stands. She sat down near the edge, leaving a small space beside her and wishing Avery was there with her, but knew she was still helping Lydia.

She glanced down for a moment, feeling tears fill her eyes, as she thought of the times she, Avery, Lydia and Allison attended games. It wasn't often, but they were able to catch a few of them together, but now here she sat alone. No Avery. No Lydia. And never Allison again.

When she felt someone sit down beside her, she lifted her head, her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Dad?" Teagan questioned.

"Hey, Sweet Tea." Paul said as he smiled at his daughter.

"What are you doing here?" Teagan asked.

"I looked at that schedule that Isaac gave me and saw there was a scrimmage tonight so I thought I would leave work early and help cheer him on." Paul explained. He glanced at the field, as he asked, "What number is he again? 14, right?"

Teagan smiled, happy that he was there for Isaac and remembered his jersey number. She glanced over at Isaac; who was looking over at them. She saw the smile on his face, when he saw them sitting there for him. He threw up his hand when Paul waved at him.

But as happy as she was that he was there, she couldn't help but worry for his safety. They had no idea what was going to happen that night and the last thing she wanted was her father getting hurt in the crossfire.

Paul turned to look at her, seeing the look on her face and asked her what was wrong. "There's more than just a game going on tonight isn't there?" He questioned, seeing how scared and nervous she looked.

Teagan nodded her head as she scooted closer to her father and said, "There's a chance, something really bad is going to happen tonight. There's something I haven't told you."

"What?" Paul asked with a worried look on his face.

"We recently found out there is a list out there. There's three parts to it, we only have the first, but it's a list of supernatural people in town." Teagan began to say. "It's a dead-pool. Isaac, Avery and the rest of my friends are on it. Someone is willing to pay a lot of money to kill them."

"How much is a lot?" Paul questioned.

"Millions." Teagan answered.

"Jeez." Paul breathed out as he shook his head. "And you think someone is getting attacked tonight?"

"We think so. We're pretty sure one of their teammates is involved and if we're right, he has already killed once. That we know of." Teagan explained.

"Who is he going after?" Paul asked. Then added when he saw how nervous she looked, "Isaac?"

"We don't know. It can literally be anyone on the list." Teagan answered.

"You're not..."

"What, on the list?" Teagan questioned when he paused. As he nodded his head, she chuckled then said, "No, Dad. I'm not supernatural."

"Don't you think I would have told you by now?" She teased.

"Well I would hope so." Paul said with a laugh, before adding seriously, "But supernatural or not, you are heavily involved with this world. That might be enough for someone."

"But I'm not a threat to anyone." Teagan pointed out.

"You are trained though and a... What was it Isaac called you? A badass?" Paul stated with a smile.

The two looked over toward Isaac; who nodded his head, hearing what her father said and was agreeing with his badass comment. Teagan chuckled at her boyfriend, then turned back to look at her father, as she said, "Yeah, I guess I'm pretty badass."

Paul chuckled along with her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her toward him. She laid a hand on his arm as the conversation went back to a serious tone.

"Dad, I love that you're here and I know it means a lot to Isaac, but I need you to do me a huge favor."

"What is it?" Paul asked as he turned his head to look at her.

"I need you to leave. I need you to go home and wait for me to return." Teagan stated.

"Are you really asking me to leave my only daughter behind when there is an assassin on the field, planning to murder someone and she could get caught in the middle?" Paul questioned.

Teagan shook her head, as she said, "No. I'm asking my father to trust me and to help put my mind at ease if I know he is safe at home." She took a deep breath, trying to get control of her emotions, as she added, "I need that dad. I need to know that you're going to be okay, that you are far away from here. And I need you to trust me, trust that I am coming home tonight and every night after that."

"I do, Sweet Tea, I do trust you." Paul said, as he held her face in his hands. He kissed her forehead, then pulled back to look at her, as he added, "And I'm going to prove that by doing what you asked. I'll go home, but I need you to keep in touch with me, okay? And at the end of the night, I need you to walk through the door."

"I will." Teagan said with a nod, promising him she would do both.

Paul stood up from his seat, then looked over at Isaac, giving him another wave. He looked back at his daughter as he said, "Tell Isaac I said good luck and be careful."

Teagan glanced over at her boyfriend, seeing him smile at the words and nod his head. She turned back to look at her dad as she stated, "He heard you."

Paul turned his head to look at him as he shook his head and said, "I keep forgetting he can do that." He smiled as he added, "That's pretty neat. I wouldn't mind a little super hearing myself sometimes."

Teagan chuckled but didn't say anything. She was actually glad her father didn't have werewolf hearing, or he would have heard a lot of things between her and Isaac that he never would want to hear.

"Love you, Sweet Tea." Her father said as he gave her a kiss on top of her head.

"Love you too, dad." Teagan said smiling.

She turned her head, watching him walk away, then turned back to look at the field, noticing Isaac watching her. He mouthed the words, 'it's you and me', causing her to smile, before he slipped his helmet on.

She blew out a nervous breath as she watched him as well as several other players jog onto the field. It was time for the game to start. It was time to see exactly what Garrett had planned that night.

**~()~**

As the game played on, Teagan nervously shook her legs, causing the people sitting the closest to her to shoot her a look, not appreciating her shaking the bleachers. She shot them a small smile, apologizing, then turned her head back toward the field.

She quickly jumped up and cheered when she saw Isaac scoop up the ball and begin to run down the field. She yelled out his name in excitement, as he spun around a few players, and then gasped in surprise when one of the players on the opposing team slammed into him and knocked him to the ground.

She could tell the player was saying something to Isaac, but didn't know what was said. She didn't know it was Brett taunting Isaac about her like before, just trying to get under his skin and push his buttons.

She saw Scott run over to Isaac, holding him back as he jumped up and tried to get to Brett. She softly said his name, getting his attention. As he turned his head to look at her, she whispered the four words that would calm him. The four words he needed to hear, 'it's you and me'.

He nodded his head, then turned and walked away from the other player, taking a deep breath and feeling himself calm down from her words.

For the next several minutes, she watched with bated breath. Anytime a Beacon Hills player fell down, she jumped up with a gasp, worried it was Isaac or one of her other friends, then breathed a sigh of relief when she saw they were okay.

Anytime Isaac heard her heart rate spike, he would look over at her; giving her a smile, a wink or just acknowledge her in some way. He knew she was stressed and nervous, but he wanted to do whatever he could to ease her mind. He wanted her to know everything would be okay. He needed her to believe that.

Later, when she saw Stiles toss the ball to Kira, she jumped up and cheered for her friend, watching her run down the field with the ball and toss it towards the net, scoring a point.

Teagan was surprised when Coach called for Kira, then placed her on the bench. She made her way down the bleachers and over toward the player bench. She sat down behind Kira, getting the girl's attention.

"Hey, nice shot." Teagan said with a smile.

"Thanks." Kira said back, smiling. "Coach didn't think so I guess." She added with a shrug, then explained that he took her out cause she didn't pass the ball. Since it was just a scrimmage, the game was more about teamwork than anything.

Teagan nodded her head in understanding, as she said, "It's okay, you'll kick ass in the next game."

Hearing a loud crashing noise, followed by the crowd gasping, Teagan and Kira looked back over at the field, seeing two players laying on the ground. One from their school and one from the other.

Teagan's eyes quickly scanned for Isaac, not seeing him and felt her heart speed up in fear. She jumped up and raced for the field, calling out his name, as she got closer to the players on the ground.

"Teagan!" She heard him yell out, then spun around, seeing him walk through a crowd of players to get to her. She breathed out a sigh of relief, throwing herself into his arms and holding him tight.

"I'm okay." Isaac quietly said in her ear. He kissed the side of her head, then pulled back to look at her, wiping the tears from her face, as he said again, "I'm okay. It wasn't me."

"Then who.." She began to say, as she turned her head, her eyes widen when she realized it was Liam. As Scott and Stiles helped him to stand up, Teagan grabbed Isaac's hand and ran over toward them.

"How hard did you hit him?" Scott questioned Liam, as they all turned to look at the other player on the ground; which happened to be Brett.

"I didn't." Liam said, as he tried to breathe through the pain. He lifted up his shirt sleeve, showing them all that his arm was broken. "He hit me." He added.

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she turned to bury her head in Isaac's shirt. She cringed when she heard Scott reset Liam's arm, the bone cracking. She felt Isaac running a hand up and down her back, whispering words of comfort in her ear.

When they heard Brett yell out, they turned their head, watching some of his teammates drag him off the field. Teagan felt her eyes widen when Garrett walked past them. She felt Isaac tighten his hold on her when he heard Garrett messing with his stick, hearing the knife sliding back inside it.

Scott, also hearing the noise, looked back at Liam, checking him over, as he asked,"Are you cut? Did Garrett cut you?"

"No, no, I'm okay." Liam answered.

Teagan breathed a sigh of relief that all of her friends were okay, then turned her head to look at Isaac, giving him a small smile before laying her head against his chest. Whoever he was after on the list, it seemed like he had missed it, which made them all breathe a little easier for the moment.

**~()~**

The sheriff had Malia, Lydia and Avery go to one of the rooms with a few desks to wait while he made the call to Eichen about Meredith.

Sitting down at a desk Lydia rubbed her tired eyes and rested her face in her hand as Avery watched through the open blinds of the windows leading out into the station as Deputy Parrish helped Meredith get her coat on while she waited.

Malia paced back and forth for a few minutes before her eyes stopped on the paper that Lydia had copied the 4 digit number given to them down on, but the numbers still didn't make sense.

Grabbing the paper and crumpling it up, Malia tossed it in the trashcan before her eyes lingered on the phone and she asked, "You guys… what if it's like Algebra?"

Lydia sighed heavily and didn't even look up, after spending the day having Malia follow her around and hovering over everything she tried to do –she'd had enough of the werecoyote.

"What do you mean?" Avery asked looking at her.

She pointed to the phone and said, "What if the numbers are actually letters?"

Grabbing the pad of paper from the desk and a pen, Lydia began to copy down all of the letters off the numbers that Meredith have given them, while Avery and Malia hovered over the desk watching her every move.

Looking down to the scrambled letters, Lydia dropped the pen next to the notepad and stared at it –trying to make sense of it all.

"Oh my god…" Avery breathed out, causing the other teens to look at her. Picking up the pen, the blonde circled letters until a pained expression fell over Lydia's face and she breathed out, "Aiden…"

Quickly pulling her computer from it's bag, Lydia loaded up her notes and typed his name into the keyword box. Seconds later the code was unscrambled and a new list of names was revealed, including Kate Argent and Kira's mom, Noshiko.

After those two names, most of the others none of them knew until Avery came to the last name she expected to see on the list: Jordan Parrish.

"Hey, isn't that…" Lydia started to ask as she saw the name too, but then looked up to see Avery's face was a few shades paler than moments before. "A?" Lydia asked.

"I'm, uh… I'm fine." She quickly stuttered out as she reached over her friend and printed a few copies of the list. Taking one for herself she gave the other to the Malia and instructed her to call Stiles and fill him in.

Once she was out of the room Avery laid the paper down on the desk and placed her hands off to either side of it, as she tried to look over the other names but her eyes kept going back to Parrish's name.

Lydia continued to stare at the computer screen double checking the list for Liam and Malia's names, but neither of them were on it.

Both girls jumped and Lydia slammed her computer shut when the door to the room opened.

Deputy Parrish looked between their shocked expressions as his forehead lined with confusion, as he apologized, "Sorry, I was just checking to see if you guys were okay…"

Lydia closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing as Avery quickly folded up her copy of the dead-pool and tucked it away in her pocket.

"You need a ride home?" He asked them.

Looking through the window to where Malia was still on the phone with Stiles, Lydia said, "Uh, no… we'll be fine, I drove here."

He nodded offering the teens a smile before his gaze lingered on Avery and he started to pull the door shut.

"Uh, actually…" Avery said looking to Lydia, "You and Malia are gonna be here for a while and I need to get going."

"I'll take you." Parrish said nodding.

Lydia cocked her head to the side and shot her friend a look but she nodded and said, "I guess text or call me later."

Avery smiled and nodded at her before grabbing her own bag off the floor and following the deputy out of the room.

**~()~**

After Brett was taken off the field, Teagan was standing on the sidelines with Isaac, Scott, and Kira. She was pressed against Isaac's side after stressing all night about the game all she wanted was to be by his side having him hold her.

They all turned their heads as Liam walked over to them and said, "I talked to Coach. I'm out for the rest of the game."

"How are you feeling?" Teagan asked him, wondering if his arm was completely healed.

He moved his arm around, testing it out, as he said, "It's better. Like new."

"That's good." Teagan said as she flashed him a smile.

He smiled back, then looked over at Scott, as he asked, "What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know. Something's still not right. We're missing something." Scott stated.

Before anyone could say anything else, Stiles walked over to them, as he said, "Guys. Lydia just broke another third of the list."

"Am I on it?" Liam questioned, as he looked over at Stiles.

"No. But someone else is." Stiles said, as he looked over at Kira. Her eyes widen as she asked why he was looking at her.

Instead of answering, he showed her the text message Malia sent while they were on the phone earlier, causing her to gasp when she saw that her mom was on the list. She looked over at Scott, then over at the others, before looking at Scott again, telling him she needed to go home. She wanted to be close to her mother, which they all understood.

After Kira rushed off, Stiles looked at the group before him, as he said, "Kira's mom isn't the only name I recognized."

"Who else is on it?" Isaac questioned.

"Brett." Stiles answered.

"They took him to the locker room, right?" Scott questioned, as he glanced around. He saw Garrett standing off to the side. He didn't know what he did to Brett, but knew he should go check on him.

Scott told the others to stay put before he took off for the locker rooms. He didn't want to risk putting any of his pack members in harm's way until he could figure out exactly what was going on and figured it would be best if they were surrounded by people.

Stiles tried to call out after him, then sighed when he realized he was ignoring him. He grabbed his stuff, waving bye to the others as he raced after his friend, not feeling comfortable leaving him alone with an assassin on the loose.

"I can't believe Brett is something supernatural or that Garrett is going around murdering people for money." Liam mumbled, as he stood in front of Teagan and Isaac. "I never would have known any of that just by looking at them. Of course, I didn't know any of you were anything either."

"Well, it's not like we have the word 'monster' tattooed on our foreheads or something." Isaac said back, as he folded his arms across his chest, shooting the younger beta a look.

"That's not what I meant." Liam said, not meaning to offend him.

"It's okay. We knew what you meant." Teagan said, as she wrapped her arm around Isaac's middle. She shot him a look, telling him to be nice.

"So you've never been anything?" Liam questioned, as he looked over at Teagan, causing her to freeze up at his question.

Isaac pulled her toward him, hearing her heart race and knew she was thinking of when her mother was haunting her. He opened his mouth to snap at the younger guy, until Teagan patted his back, telling him it was okay.

She looked over at Liam, as she said, "Briefly I had a door open in my mind and my mother was haunting me."

"Wow." Liam breathed out. "What about now? Are you normal now?"

"She's always been normal." Isaac snapped.

"No, that's not- I mean, you're better now, right?" Liam asked nervously, as he looked over at her.

"It's okay." Teagan softly said, as she looked over at Isaac, letting him know the comment didn't bother her. She looked back over at Liam, as she said, "It's okay, I know you didn't mean it that way, but to answer your question, yeah. I'm better." She let out a breathy chuckle, as she added, "Or least I'm trying to be. This world isn't always easy sometimes..." She looked up to smile at Isaac, as she continued, "But it's worth it."

Isaac smiled back at her, then leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the tip of her nose, causing her to chuckle. The two turned their heads to look at Liam as he asked, "So is the door closed now? The one in your mind?"

"Yeah." Teagan answered. "Avery went into my mind, pushed my mother back through the door then closed it."

Liam's eyes widened as he asked, "She can do that? She can go into minds? Can she-Can she read minds too?"

"No she can't read minds." Teagan answered with a laugh.

"Well, hold on, maybe she can." Isaac interrupted. "I mean, it would explain a lot. But mostly it would explain how she is always able to find us. Or if anything, maybe she can GPS us with her mind or something."

Teagan laughed at his comment, then looked at Liam, seeing the worried look on his face, which only made her laugh harder. "He's just kidding. She can't do any of that." When she saw his face relax, she tilted her head to the side in thought as she added, "At least I don't think she can."

She shook her head as she said, "Honestly, we know about some of the things she can do. Like getting into minds, and she can draw power from things; like water, electricity, things like that, but to be honest, we don't really know what all an Imperium can do and I don't think anyone else does either. As far as we know, she is the only one of her kind."

"Can she kill with her mind?" Liam questioned. He had noticed some of the looks she had given him before and assumed she was plotting his death in her mind.

As Teagan shook her head, Isaac spoke up and said, "Well..."

"Isaac!" Teagan said, as she playfully slapped his stomach, seeing that he was freaking Liam out again.

"What?" He asked innocently. "Like you said, we don't know what all that she can do. If she tried, she just might be able to look at someone and kill them."

"She can't do that." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "And even if she could, she wouldn't." She looked back at Liam, as she added, "At least not to pack members."

Isaac nodded his head in agreement as he said, "Right, but only pack members. All of us she would protect with her life." He shot Liam a look, clearly letting him know he didn't view him as a pack member.

Liam, seeing the look Isaac shot him, shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. He wasn't stupid he knew Isaac didn't like him, just like he knew Avery didn't, but he at least thought they viewed him as a member of the pack now.

He glanced off to the side, seeing his friend Mason; who was waving him over. He turned back to look at Teagan, telling her he'd catch back up with them later before walking away from the couple.

Once they were alone, Teagan turned toward Isaac, blowing out a relieved sigh. Things were still pretty bad, but at least they didn't turn out as badly as they could. Isaac and her friends were still safe for now.

Isaac laid a hand on the back of her neck, giving it a small squeeze, then pulled her toward him. He kissed the top of her head as she buried her face in his shirt. "You feel better?" He questioned, knowing how stressed she was all night cause of the game.

"Not really." Teagan said, her voiced muffled. She pulled back to look at him as she added, "I mean, I'm glad Garrett didn't go after you or our friends, but you all are still on the list. You're still a huge target and until you're not, I'm never going to be better again."

Isaac laid a hand on the side of her face, hoping the contact would calm her, then opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, they heard coach blow his whistle, trying to round up his players and get them back on the field for the rest of the game.

Coach walked over to them, telling Isaac to get his ass on the field then asked where Scott and Stiles were. Teagan opened her mouth to answer until they heard the loud police sirens coming toward them. Teagan turned her head to look at Isaac, her eyes wide, as she breathed out, "Scott."

Assuming the alpha could be in some kind of trouble, the couple ran off toward the locker room. They skid to a stop beside Stiles; all three looking inside the locker room and saw Scott kneeled down beside Brett, while Violet was on the other side of the room passed out.

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she took in the scene in front of them. She turned her head, looking at Violet again as she laid on the floor. She thought back to one of her earlier thoughts that day, that it could be more than just Garrett, that he could have a partner helping, and now they knew that was true, it just made everything even more real.

It was one thing to know there was a list out there, to know there were assassins willing to kill for money, but it was completely different to see it happened in front of her face. It made her realize this was just the beginning. Stopping Garrett and Violet one night wasn't going to make a difference, cause more would come. The assassins won't stop until everyone on the list was dead. It was the beginning of the end for them all.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- We hope you guys liked the chapter!**

**Thanks to Guest, xxxRena, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, and Exuberance or Youth for reviewing the last chapter!**


	24. Temptation

**Chapter Twenty Four – Temptation**

* * *

><p>"Is everything okay?" Deputy Parrish asked as he looked over to Avery in the passenger seat of the car.<p>

They'd been in the car for a few moments and he'd observed her taking several breaths like she was about to say something, but then she'd stop and shake her head.

There were so many thoughts racing through her mind, the top of the list being that he was on the dead-pool which terrified her; but there was also the matter that the dead-pool was only supernatural beings, which meant he wasn't human.

"I'm okay." She quietly said as she looked down to her lap and thought of how he was the most normal, stable person she'd met in her entire life and now he might not be so normal after all.

But she'd never seen his eyes change or him exhibit any sort of superhuman senses or behavior.

Maybe the list was wrong, she thought to herself. Maybe it was a mix-up and he was human or possibly there was another Jordan Parrish somewhere Beacon Hills, doubtful but it was possible.

Then again after everything she'd seen; werewolves, banshees, wendigos, a kanima… even she herself was a supernatural. It seemed much more likely that he wasn't human and the dead-pool was right.

"Which way to his building?" Parrish asked her, trying to make conversation. After they'd gotten outside of the station she'd informed him that she actually needed a ride to Derek's loft instead of to her own house.

"Uh, remember that night we met… when you pulled me over for speeding?" She asked with an innocent smile.

He glanced over at her with raised brows as he nodded.

"Head that way." She said, before the car fell silent again.

She looked over at him as she wondered if he knew what he was and just wasn't telling her.

Catching her watching him from the corner of his eye he asked, "What?"

Looking down to her hands in her lap she shrugged and asked, "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Get people to respond to you like Meredith did? You're always getting people to calm down and work with you… when I try to talk to people they always think I'm threatening them." She quietly said as she looked back over at him, just in time to see the muscles in his cheek twitch as he held back a laugh.

"What?" She asked, turning more in her seat.

"Avery, most of the things you say to people do sound like a threat." He admitted with a small laugh.

"They do not!" She argued, but her corners of her mouth were turning up into a smile as he looked over at her.

"Seriously, if I'm threatening someone… they will know without a doubt that I'm threatening them." She explained, then quickly added in, "Not that I threaten people often."

With a laugh he shrugged and said, "I don't know, its' just something about the way you approach people and interact with them… it's intimidating."

"You're saying there is something wrong with the way I act?" She questioned, trying to sound like it was part of the joke but she was really curious if he thought that.

"That's not what I'm saying." He assured her with a laugh.

A little while later they pulled up outside of the building and Parrish leaned forward to get a better look at the tall, dark, imposing building as he asked, "And Derek lives here?"

Nodding Avery said, "Yeah, why? Surprised?

"A little." He admitted shaking his head, "It doesn't look like anyone lives in the building."

Laughing Avery looked over to see Derek walking out of the doors before he slowed to a stop and stared at the patrol car.

Looking back to Parrish she said, "I need to go… but just be careful, okay?"

"What are you talking about?" He questioned, confused.

"Just… be more cautious than normal." She vaguely replied, causing him to gently grab her arm and stop her from getting out of the car as he asked, "Why is it that I always get the feeling you know so much than I do?"

Offering him a small, apologetic smile she opened her door and said, "Just be careful."

He nodded and told her goodnight, before she shut the door and he watched her walk over to where Derek was standing near the building waiting on her.

**~()~**

After greeting Chris Argent, Avery followed Derek down the entrance into the Hale vault as the hunter followed them.

Chris stood and looked around, shocked to learn that the Hale family had built a vault under the school and a little more shocked that Derek was showing it to him.

Avery stood close to Derek as he got the triskelion medallion out of it's custom built wooden case, and a small smile fell over his lips as he brought back memories of his family.

"She was here for this." Derek explained as he turned around and held the medallion out for Chris to take.

As the hunter flipped the piece over in his hand and inspected it closely, Derek explained, "We used it to teach young betas control on the full moons."

Handing it back to them Chris nodded and reasoned, "And control was never one of Kate's strengths."

Seeing his lack of shock to all of the news about his sister, Avery asked, "You knew she was alive…"

"Not for certain." He quickly assured the teenager, Then launched into an explanation of how he'd been searching for her ever since Derek had given him a shotgun shell he'd found in the woods when Ethan and Aiden were ambushed. Pulling the same shell from his pocket Chris handed it to Avery who turned it over and immediately recognized the fleur de lis on it as the Argent's symbol.

Reaching over Derek slid an arm around Avery's waist pulling her against him as saw her slightly trembling and he had a pretty good idea it wasn't the cool night air that was affecting her.

Derek turned his attention back to Chris Argent, who was looking between the couple. Derek asked, "If you find her, what are you going to do?"

"There's a place I can take her." He explained, as he saw the look on the blonde's face he added, "Where she can't hurt anyone again."

Looking between Derek and Avery again, Chris turned walked farther into the vault as he looked at the burn marks on the floor from where the smoke grenades had went off.

"You're saying you have some kind of werewolf jail?" Derek asked keeping his eyes on the hunter.

He looked up to the safe where bearer bonds had been stolen and reasoned, "Yeah, something like that."

"She's not going to just surrender and go with you, this is Kate we're talking about." Avery said, her voice loudly echoing off the walls of the underground space.

Nodding Derek agreed, "She's not going to go quietly."

"I don't expect her to." He nodded, still watching the vault and not the werewolf or the teenager.

He'd already seen Teagan who let him know she didn't appreciate his taking off and not staying in touch with them. He could tell by the look on Avery's face when he first saw her again that she also had several things she wanted to say to him.

Thinking he knew what they both wanted to hear he looked down to the floor and quietly said, "I'll do what's necessary."

Letting go of Avery, Derek walked closer to Chris, who turned around at the sound of approaching footsteps.

"What if I asked you not to?" Derek questioned with a defeated shrug. Once he had the hunters attention he admitted, "She took something from me."

Chris couldn't hide the shock on his face as Derek's eyes began to glow golden-yellow. He took a few steps closer to get a better look as the wolf continued to explain, "At first I just thought it was a part of my past. But then I started to lose something else… my sense of smell."

Derek continued to explain how he'd noticed all of his senses were weakening and some days were worse than others. But Avery's attention was drawn over to where she saw flashing red and blue lights reflection off the cement wall near the entrance to the vault.

Wandering away from them she walked outside and looked around surprised as she noticed several police cars were in the parking lot with their lights flashing.

She stood in place and looked around, trying to figure out what was happening until she heard Derek ask, "What happened?"

"I don't know." She breathed, then turned to see him shutting the vault as she asked, 'Where'd Chris Argent go?"

Nodding to a car that was pulling out of the parking lot he said, "He left."

Avery's jaw tensed in anger at the fact that he'd taken off again without saying bye to her.

Once the vault was sealed up, Derek grabbed her hand and said, "I think we should find out what's going on." As he started to pull her to the school.

Nodding Avery remembered with a small gasp, "There was a scrimmage tonight!"

They both looked around the nearly empty lot and realized something bad must have happened for the place to clear out so quickly. Her heart started to pick up speed from fear and Derek looked over at her a little relieved his hearing was back for the time being. But as they neared a side entrance of the school they both came to a stop as they saw Stiles struggling to drag a lacrosse player from the other team out.

"Stiles?" Avery asked.

Letting go of Brett, Stiles spun around and looked at them as he let out a sigh of relief that it was just them, then his eyes traveled to their connected hands and he shot her a questioning look which she ignored as Derek walked over to Brett and knelt down over him, as he asked, "Wolfsbane?"

"Yeah, I need to get him to Deaton's." He admitted then his expression lifted as he realized, "You guys can help me!"

"I need to find Teagan." Avery said shaking her head back and forth, before calling over her shoulder for Derek to come find her once they were ready to leave.

**~()~**

After making her way through the hallways she finally located Teagan and Isaac, the couple was huddled together not too far from the locker room talking quietly to each other.

"Hey." Avery greeted as she walked up to them.

"A!" Teagan exclaimed happy to see her friend there, to know that she was safe.

"We're glad you're here… tonight was crazy." Isaac breathed as he started to launch into an explanation of the events of the night, but stopped when he saw her nodded like she already knew the worst of it.

"Wait…" Isaac breathed, "How do you know this… how are you even here, you left with Lydia."

"I was here with Derek, we were…" She didn't get a chance to fully answer as Teagan groaned and shook her head back and forth.

Looking at his girlfriend with a questioning look, Isaac turned his attention back to Avery as he said, "One of the players from the other team…"

"Yeah, Stiles filled me in." Avery quickly nodded then looked around as she said, "I saw him outside."

"Why were you here with Derek?" Teagan finally spoke up, giving her best friend a look to show how unhappy she was with the information.

She opened her mouth to explain everything but stopped when they heard approaching footsteps, the teen trio looked over to see Deputy Parrish leading a freshman girl named Violet out of the locker room in handcuffs.

Turning around she looked at his name tag and asked, "Jordan Parrish?"

Avery stared at Violet, and Teagan quickly looked over to her best friend when she heard the freshman talking.

"Deputy Parrish." He sternly corrected as he led her past the teens.

Violet titled her head down some and looked at the group of friends with a knowing smirk.

Before she could answer Teagan questioned, "Did she just call Deputy Parrish by his first name?"

"What was that about?" Isaac asked nodding to tell her she'd heard Violet right.

"Kira's mom and Brett weren't the only ones on the list…" Avery said nodding over to where Deputy Parrish was standing as Agent McCall and the sheriff spoke to Violet. Swallowing hard she continued, "Parrish is on the list too, for five million."

Teagan's jaw dropped at the newly learned news, stepping closer to Isaac she intertwined their fingers with his as she thought of how she felt when she learned that Isaac was on the dead-pool.

"Why, what is he?" Isaac asked as he looked the young officer over.

Looking over her shoulder Avery saw Parrish watching Isaac with a confused expression before he looked down to himself and shifted uncomfortably on the floor.

"Oh my god, Isaac! Stop it!" Avery hissed as she hung her head.

"He looks normal." Isaac argued as he kept staring.

Hearing Teagan laugh he asked, "What?"

"Seriously, babe. Stop it, you look like you're checking him out." Teagan informed him.

Quickly Isaac looked between the best friends as both girls nodded their heads.

"Oh…" He breathed as he looked down for a second before looking back over to the deputy and giving a small awkward wave when he saw Parrish was now watching him.

"Oh my god, you did not just wave!" Teagan exclaimed, a wide smile on her face despite the dangerous turns the events of the night had taken.

"Well he saw me, what was I supposed to do?" Isaac quietly asked.

"Aww!" Avery exclaimed as she clapped her hands together and said, "Someone's looking nervous, do you have a man-crush on Deputy Parrish?"

Teagan buried her face against Isaac's side as she laughed.

Shaking his head at her Isaac argued, "I don't have a man-crush on anyone! I was just saying he looks human enough."

Pulling her face from his shirt, Teagan beamed a smile as she said, "You know I saw him cuddled up with Scott on his bike the other day!"

Letting out a heavy sigh at the girls going back and forth he leaned his head back and stared up to the ceiling in irritation.

"Aww!" Avery loudly cooed, causing Teagan to laugh then lightly hit his arm as she said, "You know we're just kidding."

Pointing a finger at Avery he said, "You! I'd expect this out of you."

Then looking at Teagan he pointed her way and continued, "But you…I expected better from you."

Teagan's eyes widened and her glossed lips pouted as she gave him a look she knew he couldn't stay mad at.

Not able to hold back his smile, he moved the finger he'd pointed at her closer until he tapped the end of her nose with it. Then he leaned down and pressed a kiss to her lips.

Avery watched them with a smile of her own as she heard Teagan's soft, muffled giggles escape the kiss.

Leaning back against the wall, she looked over to the young deputy and wondered what he was and why was he was worth millions on the dead-pool.

Teagan glanced over at Parrish and saw him watching Avery, looking down to the floor she sighed heavily. Wondering why Avery couldn't have just kept getting closer with Parrish instead of getting back with Derek Hale.

"But seriously, do we know what he is?" Isaac picked his questioning back up.

Glancing over her shoulder again Avery admitted, "I'm not even sure he knows he's something. Like you said Isaac, he seems normal."

The beta nodded his head thinking in the times he'd been around him, he'd never caught a strange scent or seen him do anything supernatural.

"It really makes you wonder though, if he seems so normal and he's on the dead-pool… who the hell could wind up on the 3rd part of the list?" Teagan softly asked with a concerned expression.

Shrugging Isaac answered, "I'm just thankful that you're not going to be on any dead-pool." He pulled his girlfriend against his side, thankful that she was human and there wasn't going to be a price on her head.

Avery nodded in agreement, even if she had to be worried about almost every single other friend being on the dead-pool, there was at least a small comfort in knowing that Teagan wouldn't be targeted by the assassins.

"Avery!"

The group looked over to see Derek standing down the hallway whisper yelling at her with an impatient expression. They currently had a teenage boy dying from wolfsbane poisoning out in the car with a panicked Stiles.

"What does he want?" Teagan asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and shot Derek a look, who rolled his eyes in response to her.

Avery opened her mouth to explain but before she could Derek's voice hissed down the hallway, as he called out, "Avery! Now, let's go!"

"See you later." Avery called over her shoulder to her friends.

Not understanding what was happening, Teagan's jaw dropped as she saw Avery get close enough to Derek that he grabbed her hand and pulled her from the school. Blowing out a heavy breath she crossed her arms over chest and thought to herself that it wasn't like Avery to take orders from anyone.

**~()~**

After Avery left the couple to rush off with Derek, Teagan wrapped her arms around his middle and laid her head on his chest, as the two stood off to the side. She pushed the Avery and Derek stuff out of her mind for a moment, as they saw Agent McCall talking to Violet. Isaac listened in, then repeated what was said to Teagan. Making them realize she and Garrett were responsible for Demarco and Carrie's death.

As Parrish led Violet away, Isaac kissed the top of her head when he heard her heart racing. He ran a hand up and down her back, as he softly said,"It's okay, babe. It's over."

"Not really." Teagan said, as she pulled back to look at him. "Garrett is still out there." She pointed out. Once he heard the sirens he grabbed what he could and left before the cops figured out he was involved too.

"And even if they do catch him, they're not the only ones." She continued. A sad look crossed her face, as she quietly added,"It's never gonna stop."

"Then we'll fight them together." Isaac stated, as he laid his hand on the side of her neck. "My girl's a badass and I could hold my own."

"Don't sell yourself short. You're pretty badass too." Teagan said, as she smiled up at him. "You could probably kick my ass." She joked.

"There is a lot I want to do to your ass, but kicking it is not one of those things." Isaac joked back, as he leaned forward to kiss her lips.

After the kiss, he pulled her back toward him, holding her in his arms. The two were quiet for a moment, before he questioned,"So what was that about earlier? You and Avery?"

"We were just joking about the man-crush on Parrish." Teagan asked back, as she looked up at him. "Although you were looking at him a lot, so maybe I should be worried." She joked.

Isaac let out a small chuckled as he shook his head, then said,"No that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about whatever is going on between you, Avery and Derek." As she pulled away from him, wrapping her arms around herself, he added,"Anytime he was mentioned or even when he showed up, you were giving off very strong emotions."

"Hatred?" Teagan questioned.

"No." Isaac answered. He laid his hands on the side of her neck, looking at her closely, as he added,"Sadness, worry, disappointment, and more worry. What's going on?"

"Avery and Derek... They're back together." Teagan softly said, as a concern look appeared on her face.

"Okay..." Isaac said slowly, waiting for her to continue. When she didn't say anything, he shook his head with a confused look, as he asked,"So what's the problem?"

"That is the problem." Teagan stated. "What if he hurts her again?"

"What if he doesn't?" Isaac asked back, with a shrug.

"But what if he-"

Before she could finish her sentence Isaac pressed his lips against hers to end the conversation. He rested his hand on the back of her neck, as he moved his lips against hers for a tender kiss, trying to take as much anxiety and stress from her as he could. It wasn't healthy for her to be this worried about everything.

"Isaac, you can't-" She tried to argue, tried to tell him he can't just kiss her and make all the worries in the world go away. With everything going on; Kate, a new beta, the dreams, the dead-pool, the assassins and now she was even more worried about Avery, no amount of kisses could chase those worries away.

"I know." Isaac breathed out, as he rested his forehead against hers. He pulled back to look at her, brushing a lock of hair from her face, as he continued,"I know you're worried, but I need you to calm down, babe. This isn't healthy for you to be this stressed. There is enough going on, don't take on more. Let Avery and Derek worry about Avery and Derek."

"I just want her to be okay." Teagan quietly said, as tears filled her eyes. She didn't want another phone call like before. The one from Avery's father that night saying that Avery tried to kill herself. She never wanted to feel that fear of losing her best friend again.

"She will be okay. She is okay." Isaac stated, as he pulled her into his arms. He held her tightly against him, as he added,"We're all going to be okay."

She pulled back to look at him, opening her mouth to say something, but before she could she noticed something over his shoulders, causing her to lower her eyebrows in confusion, as she asked,"What is he doing?"

"Who?" Isaac questioned, as he turned his head, seeing a nervous Liam standing in the doorway leading into the locker room. He would glance in the room, then look back in the hallway; like he was being a lockout for someone.

"Liam?" Teagan questioned, as she grabbed Isaac's hand before walking down the hall toward the young beta.

"It's Teagan and Isaac." Liam commented, as he looked back into the locker room, letting Scott know who was coming toward them.

"Liam, what are you doing?" Teagan asked, as she stopped in front of her.

As he stuttered out a few words, unsure how to answer the question, Scott left the locker he was looking in and walked over to the others. He laid his hand on the door frame, nervously tapping his fingers. He couldn't believe what he just found in Garrett's locker and had no idea what he should do about it.

"Okay, what are both of you doing?" Teagan questioned, as she looked Scott then Liam.

Scott glanced at Liam for a moment, then back over at Teagan and Isaac, like he wanted to answer but didn't want to say in front of the younger boy. Teagan nodded her head in understanding, then called out Liam's name, as she reached into her pocket and pulled out her car keys.

"Here." She said, as she handed him the keys. "Why don't you go wait in the car and we'll take you home."

"Yeah, we'll even take you for ice cream if you're a good little boy." Isaac added sarcastically, causing Teagan to shot him a look for the comment.

"Okay." Liam said, as he nodded his head and began to walk down the hallway.

Once he was gone, Teagan turned back to look at Scott, as she asked,"Okay, what's going on?"

"I found something. In Garrett's locker." Scott said, as he nodded his head back toward where the locker was. As they asked him what he found, he glanced down the hallway, making sure no one was coming, then darted back over to the locker, grabbing the duffel bag.

He made his way back over toward Teagan and Isaac, opening the bag and showing them all the money that was inside it.

"Holy shit." Isaac breathed out.

"Wow." Teagan mumbled. She shook her head, as she said,"I just can't believe someone would kill for that much money."

"They were orphans." Isaac stated, having heard McCall say that earlier. "They probably didn't have anyone, didn't have money and were just trying to survive."

"Yeah, but that's not an excuse to kill innocent people for money." Teagan pointed out.

"No, but, I just mean I get it. Being alone against the world, even if you did have an adult in your life, he wasn't a good one. You're still alone, trying to survive." He explained, remembering how his life use to be, back before he was turned and before he got together with her. If it wasn't for her love and guidance, there was no telling how his life would have turned out. He could have been the type that would do something horrible for money.

Teagan grabbed his hand, giving it a squeeze, knowing he was thinking of his past. She shot him a small smile, then got back to the subject, as she said,"It still doesn't make it right though."

"Yeah, but.." Scott began to say, getting their attention.

"But what?" Teagan asked him when he paused.

"I agree, it's not right, but I can see how someone can be tempted. I mean, my mom is working doubles just to make ends meet." He said.

"I get it. I do. My parents struggled when we lived here before. That's why dad wanted to move back then, he got a better job offer and more money." Teagan explained. She nodded toward the duffel bag, as she said,"But this... This is blood money. They got this by killing someone. You have to give it to you dad, or the sheriff. That's the right thing to do, Scott."

Scott nodded his head, knowing she was right, but he wasn't sure if he could do it. At least not yet, but he wasn't going to tell her that. He didn't want to see the disappointed look on her face, the one that was on her face now.

The three spoke for a little bit longer, before the couple turned to leave, leaving Scott alone with the money.

He glanced inside, seeing the stack of cash. He thought back to the times he had seen his mother stressed out over money. The way she balanced everything perfectly to make sure they had enough for bills, groceries and so on. If one little thing went wrong, the whole system was messed up and they would fall behind.

He knew holding the money wasn't a good idea, deep down he knew he should do what Teagan said and turn ir over or at least give it to Derek since it belonged to the Hales', but as he looked at the money again, he knew he wasn't going to do the right thing. He couldn't. It was just too tempting.

With that thought in mind, he turned and began to walk down the hallway, taking the money home.

**~()~**

"What the hell is happening to this kid?" Stiles asked with a groan as he continued to try and hold Brett's seizing body down to the table.

"He's been poisoned by a rare form of wolfsbane." Deaton explained as Brett continued to shake on the metal exam table.

As he started to vomit up a yellow substance that spewed violently from his mouth, Avery took a step back from the table shaking her head back and forth.

"I need to make an incision. Hold him still." Deaton instructed, but even with Stiles and Derek trying to hold the terrified teenager down, it wasn't working.

"Derek, how about a little werewolf strength here?" Stiles groaned as he fought against Brett but the beta wolf was far too strong for him to hold down.

"Leave him alone!" Avery yelled at the same time Derek pointed out, "I'm not the only one with werewolf strength."

"Avery, a little help? He needs to be held perfectly still or the incision could kill him instead of save his life." Deaton pointed out as he held a scalpel in his hand and looked to the teenager.

Nodding she started to walk back up to the table but more of the yellow vomit spewed from his mouth and her nose wrinkled in disgust as she stopped and offered, "If we just need him to hold still, we could knock him out?"

Everyone looked at her and Stiles thought back to when Scott said Avery had knocked Liam unconscious the night at the hospital and he pointed out, "You can't just go around knocking everyone out! It's not the answer to all of life's problems."

"Well neither is getting wolfsbane puke a five hundred dollar dress." She suavely responded, as she crossed her arms over her chest and shot him a look.

Rolling his eyes Derek yelled, "Avery!" With a strained voice as he fought to keep the wolf down on the exam table.

"Fine!" She yelled back at him.

But just as she started to reach the table, Brett broke free and in a state of panic sent Stiles, Deaton and Derek all flying across the room.

The beta wolf's eyes glowed yellow as he searched for a way out of the room, but just as he tried make a break for it, Peter walked in and knocked Brett down with one hit to the face.

"See?" Avery asked, motioning to Brett's body on the floor she continued, "I told you we should have just knocked him out."

Stiles shot her a disbelieving look, and she looked over to Peter who blinked away his glowing blue eyes and pointed out to Derek, "Looks like I've still got a little werewolf strength myself."

"Yeah…" Derek agreed, "Maybe more than a little."

Peter smirked at him and Avery looked down to see the scratches Brett had put on Derek's arm were still open wounds.

"Derek…" She quietly said as she walked over and got a better look at the scratches which still weren't healing.

"Hey doc… I don't think he's doing so good!" Stiles exclaimed as he dropped to the floor beside Brett. Deaton knelt down with him and they got to work on saving Brett's life, while Avery was more focused on Derek's current problem.

Peter cocked his head to the side and watched when he realized Derek hadn't healed.

Her eyes were wide with fear as she gently took hold of Derek's arm and looked from the open scratches up to his face as their eyes locked and she could tell he was just as worried as she was. But she breathed a small sigh of relief as she looked back down and saw the wounds were finally healing.

Avery started to say something but Stiles looked over his shoulder and asked, "Hey, can you guys be quiet? He's trying to say something."

Everyone focused on Brett as he continued to repeat something over and over, his voice weak and strained from nearly dying after being cut with a wolfsbane laced blade.

Finally understanding what the teenager was repeating Deaton sat back and announced to the room, "Three things that cannot long be hidden; the sun, the moon and the truth."

"It's Buddhist." Avery realized as her eyebrows lowered in confusion.

Derek looked over as Peter pieced everything together and said, "Satomi."

**~()~**

Avery leaned against the outside of the building while Dr. Deaton continued to check Brett out to make sure he was going to be okay. She'd just sent Scott a text letting him know that the werewolf was healing.

Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and tucked her phone into her pocket and leaned her head back against the brick siding until she heard footsteps, looking up she saw Peter walking towards her.

"What?" She asked, when he stopped beside her.

He watched her for a few moments in silence, causing her to shift uncomfortably. Until he finally said, "You're still not trying to find Kate?"

"No." She sighed rolling her eyes at him bringing it up again as she started to turn around and walk away, but she stopped as he called after her, "Don't do that."

"Do what?" She asked turning back around to face him.

"What you always do… turn your nose up and try to act like you're just so much better than me. When really, we're not all that different." He said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning sideways against the building as he watched the teenager's jaw tense in anger.

Walking back up to him she hissed, "We are nothing alike! You're crazy if you honestly believe that, you have killed people… you have a high body count to your name."

"Right." He smirked, "And you're just so perfect that you've never done anything wrong?"

Rolling her eyes she pointed out, "Everything that I have done, I've done for my friends."

"And those people that I killed –they were responsible for the death of my family, they left me burned and broken for six years. You have no idea what that's like for someone like me. So yes, I've done horrible things in my life… but don't stand there and pretend you're repulsed by it." He said, his voice quiet incase Derek's hearing was still intact.

She opened her mouth to speak but he kept going, "In fact, when you found out about everything I seem to recall you being on my side."

"Because I thought that fire killed my mom, okay?" She hissed at him, taking a few steps closer as she continued, "Little did I know that she was still alive and crazier than you!"

"I'm not crazy." He argued. Avery opened her mouth to snap back at him, but he silenced her argument as he pointed out, "Still seeing things that aren't really there?"

Her face fell and he smugly continued, "That's right, I know all about you losing your own mind."

Biting down on her tongue, she pulled in a deep breath and turned around starting to walk away.

"Alright, I admit… that was uncalled for." He said, but she didn't stop walking until he called out, "All I'm saying is that maybe you wouldn't have snapped if you'd stopped fighting against your true nature."

"My nature, and what would that be? A monster… like you?" She gasped, spinning around and dropping her arms to her sides in defeat.

"That darkness inside of you… Avery, if you could just harness that –do you have any idea the amount of power you'd have? That darkness… and that anger you have, it makes you strong, just stop fighting it." He pointed out, his tone pushy as he spoke to the teenager.

She stayed still, but he walked up to her as he continued to try and point out how much alike they were really were, "You want to call me a monster, fine. But then wouldn't it take a monster to sympathize with one… or even to understand their motives?"

"I don't…" She started to say, but her tone had lost it's fight as she shook her head back and forth not sure what else to say.

"When I killed that mute, Avery you were less than ten feet away and you didn't flinch."

"Because…" She said, her tone getting weaker by the moment.

"Because you knew it had to happen… that none of us were safe until he was dead. It was our lives or his." Peter continued to work his way inside of Avery's head as she stared back at him with an expression showing it was working.

"People like Scott… even Derek who thinks there's a different way to handle things now that don't involve killing. They don't understand people like us." He said, his voice barely over a whisper as he now stood just in front of her.

"You hate it, sure. But hating it doesn't change the fact that people like you and me –we operate on a different playing field, our moral compasses aren't like everyone else because we not only know that killing is necessary, we're the ones who can actually go through with it… and we know that Kate deserves to die. She deserves to burn for what she's done to all of us, no one understands that better than we do." He said, his eyes moving over her face as he spoke with a smug expression at seeing it was working.

She opened her mouth, wanting to argue with him. But she didn't have any fight left, not when he'd been making valid points.

Hearing the door on the side of the building open she looked over her shoulder and watched until Derek looked around the back of the building in search of her as he called out, "You ready?"

"Yeah, I was just…" She started to say, but when she looked back Peter was gone.

Swallowing hard, she managed to smile at Derek as she nodded and said, "Yeah, we need to get my car… it's still at the school."

**~()~**

As Avery got home her head was spinning from everything again, pushing open the door to her house she rushed in and closed it behind her as she took a deep breath.

She'd told Derek she didn't feel well that night and just needed to go home and sleep, he kept trying to offer to come with her –but she wouldn't let him. The truth was all she could hear was Peter's voice circling in her head, reminding her that when push came to shove she was no better than him at all.

Kicking her shoes off she stood with her bare feet on the expensive tile in the entryway before she finally made her way through the house coming to a stop when she saw the locked liquor cabinet was empty. With a confused expression she walked into the kitchen and opened the usual cabinet that her dad kept his expensive bottles in, but it was empty too.

Rolling her eyes she went to his office and walked inside where she finally found a bottle of alcohol in the large bottom drawer of his desk.

As she moved back towards the kitchen it felt like she was trying to move through wet sand, every step took so much effort and a part of her wanted to just set the bottle down and go to her room but she ignored the reasonable voice in her head as she sat the bottle down with a clank on the counter and reached up taking an expensive crystal glass down and poured some of the alcohol in the glass.

Picking it up she stared down to the amber colored liquid as she gently moved the glass in a circle, swishing the contents back and forth as her eyes focused on it.

This was it; one of those defining moments on her road to recovery that her therapist had talked about. She wanted to drink until she didn't feel the pain and shame that was inside of her, and at the same time she wanted to pour it down the drain and be able to celebrate making the right decision –to prove to herself that she was strong enough to do this.

Her mind drifted as she thought of how if Derek was there with her he'd talk her out of taking that drink, he'd be able to talk her down –to anchor her but none of that meant anything if she couldn't handle it on her own. But she'd pushed him away, she didn't want him to come with her that night because she was sure somewhere deep inside, that she was trying to set herself up to fail.

Mascara laced tears dripped down her cheeks, she'd realized for the first time that night how different Derek was from when she'd first met him. He'd came so far and she was so proud of him. Like at the school how he'd been angry at Peter for killing the assassin, Derek said they'd learned a better way. But the entire time she'd been on Peter's side, as it was she'd stood completely unwavering with a gun pointed at the mute's face; she was going to kill him without a second thought because she knew he wasn't going to stop coming after Derek.

She knew that her and Derek were a lot alike on many levels, they were both deeply damaged people. But along the way, he'd learned and grew but after her talk with Peter she didn't feel like she was a better person at all. She wanted to be good enough for Derek but even after all the hours of therapy and the months she spent away there was still that voice inside her head reminding her that she wasn't good enough –that she'd never be good enough.

It was easy for her to feel good about herself when she was around people who liked her, but it was the moments in the middle of the night when she was completely alone with her thoughts, with her demons that made the distance between where she was and where she wanted to be unbearable.

People slip up, they make mistakes –especially when they're trying to heal from something and move on. That was something else she learned in her therapy, that it was going to be a constant battle, a struggle every single day to do the right thing when giving up would be so much easier. And up until earlier that night she'd thought she could handle it, but now she wasn't so sure.

Taking a deep breath she wiped her cheeks with her trembling hands and poured more alcohol into the glass, nearly overflowing it. Picking the glass up she brought it to her lips and paused when her phone went off from her pocket.

Setting the glass down she looked at the text from Derek, telling her that he'd see her after she got out of school the next day. That he thought he had a lead on Satomi's pack.

Laying the phone down on the counter she took a deep breath as she grabbed the bottle and poured all of the contents down the drain, laying the bottle on it's side in the large sink she placed her palms flat on the counter as she leaned over the still full glass.

As her phone went off again she saw it was Derek now trying to call her; he was still trying so hard to make her see how much he cared and the he was still there.

A pained expression fell over the teenagers face as she reached over and shut her phone off, not able to see another phone call or text from him –she didn't need another shred of proof that clearly she was the screwed up one in their relationship.

As she looked back to the glass she considered how she'd learned better ways to deal with the war going on inside of her, but she thought back to what Peter had said after he killed the mute assassin, that even though he'd learned a better way –he was a creature of habit.

For a moment she wondered if she was a creature of habit too. But she shook her head back and forth as she reminded herself that people could change for the better, she needed to believe that to keep going.

One day all of her broken pieces would be fixed and getting through a bad day wouldn't seem so impossible.

Pulling in a deep breath, she hoped that Derek understood how long and bumpy the road to be becoming normal would be, and that he'd stick with her with through it like he had been. Because she felt like if she had his help that one day she could change for the better too, that one day she'd be good enough.

Closing her eyes in defeat she breathed out, "One day..." Her trembling fingers clutched onto the glass as she raised it her mouth and drank it down so quickly it ran from the corners of her mouth.

Setting the empty glass back down on the counter she wiped the mix of salty tears and alcohol from her chin and cheeks as she turned around leaning against the counter before sliding down to the floor and putting her head in her hands as she whispered to herself, "One day… just not today."

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- We hope you all liked the chapter! ^_^**

**Thank you to everyone who has added this story to your favorites and/or subscribed for update alerts, we really appreciate it!**

**We'd also like to give extra special shout outs to: SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, Iris RainbowWolf, xxXWolfsLullabyxXx, and rapunzelrose13 for reading and taking the time to leave a review on chapter 23.**


	25. Her Death Will Be Your Fault

**Chapter Twenty Five – Her Death Will Be Your Fault**

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><p>After dropping off Liam, Isaac drove to the Young house. After shutting off the car, he grabbed his bag and lacrosse stick, then walked over to passenger side, as she stepped out of the car. He reached out with his free hand, grabbing hers, as the two walked toward the front door together.<p>

As soon as they walked in, they were greeted by a happy Aspen and her father. Paul smiled at seeing his daughter and Isaac walking in unharmed. He gave her a hug, then reached out to give Isaac a friendly pat on his shoulder.

The three talked for a few minutes as they caught Paul up on the latest, then he went upstairs to go to bed, while the teens went into the kitchen. Teagan let Aspen out back, as Isaac went over to the refrigerator to grabbed them both a bottle of water. He walked over to the island in the middle of the floor, where she was leaned against, and slid a bottle of water toward her.

She nodded her head to thank him, then chuckled when she saw him grab an apple from the bowl on top of the counter and take a big bite.

"Hungry?" She questioned, as he took another bite before he was even finished with the other one.

"Little bit." He answered, before taking a sip of water.

"You want me to make you something?" She asked.

"Nah, this is fine." He answered, as he took a few more bites, finishing the apple, then tossing it into the trash. "Besides..." He began to say, as he walked over to her, laying his hands on her sides, before lifting her up and sitting her on the counter. He parted her legs, getting closer to her, as he continued,"I'm in the mood for something else."

"Is that something me or did you want me to give Deputy Parrish a call?" Teagan teased, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You gonna start that again?" Isaac questioned, as he shot her a look, pretending like he was mad at the comment, but they both knew deep down he wasn't. He grabbed her legs, wrapping them around his waist, getting as close to her as possible. He laid his hands on her sides, as he said,"I don't think you want to start that. Not when I can do this."

Teagan gasped as he began to tickle her sides. She wiggled around, trying to get away from his hands, and pleaded with him to stop. As he kept tickling her, she leaned forward to bite his shoulder, causing him to jerk back.

"Ow! Damn it, babe!" Isaac exclaimed, as he grabbed his shoulder, rubbing the spot where she had bit him. Once the pain went away, he laid his hands on her back, running them down until he got to her butt, pulling her toward him. He shot her a teasing smile, as he said,"So we're biting now, I see."

He leaned forward, pressing his lips against the side of her neck, teasing her. She rolled her head to the side, giving him better access, as he nibbled on her skin a couple of times before biting into her neck, causing her arch her back and moan out.

He quickly lifted his head, placing his lips against hers to keep her quiet. "Shh..." He mumbled against her lips, before he kissed her again.

"You can't be loud." He whispered, as he nibbled her bottom lip.

"Then you can't do things like that." She whispered back. "You know what that does to me."

"I need to get that list from Avery soon." Isaac said, referring to earlier when she mentioned private places to have sex at.

Teagan chuckled, as she laid the palm of her hands against his, intertwining their fingers, before saying,"You know by accepting that list, she would definitely be able to find us then. We'll never get a moment alone."

"I never thought of it that way." Isaac said, with a nod. "She really is a cockblock." He joked, causing her to laugh.

He smiled at her, the sound of her laugh had always pleased him. Even when they were younger and he would hear her laughing and joking with friends, any time he had heard it, it made him smile. There was just something about it that made him happy, and now, knowing that he was the cause of the laughter, it was the greatest sound to him. He loved making her happy, loved seeing her happy, especially lately with everything going on.

He leaned forward, pressing his lips against hers for a sweet kiss, before saying,"We'll just have to find our own places. A place she'll never be able to find." He kissed across her jaw, making his way toward her ear, as he whispered,"Cause I definitely need a night alone with you."

"I need that too." Teagan softly said, as she ran her fingers through his curls. "Besides having a good place to hide, isn't that bad of an idea."

"We don't need to hide." Isaac pointed out, as he laid a hand on the side of her face. "Cause we can get through anything."

As he softly caressed her face, he thought about his last comment and hoped the words were true. They had already been through a lot and as far as all the supernatural stuff, he felt like they would overcome all of that, just like they have overcome everything else. But there was one thing he was worried about, one thing that bothered him, and that was Liam.

He noticed all the looks Liam gave her, he heard his heart every time Teagan came near him. He would like to believe he had nothing to worry about, he knew Teagan loved him and he would like to think it was just jealousy getting the best of him, but he hated it every time she was near him or touched him as she tried to calm him down.

Then earlier when they dropped him off at his house. As Liam walked into the house and his father waved bye to them, thanking them for bringing Liam home, he heard her heart speed up, making him fear she was sad to see him leave her or something.

"Can I ask you something?" Isaac questioned, thinking the best thing to do was just ask her. If she tried to lie, he would know. He could always tell when she was lying to him, he could read her that well.

"Of course." Teagan said, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Why did your heart speed up tonight?" Isaac asked. When she shot him a confused look, he added,"When we dropped Liam off."

Teagan sighed, as she shook her head, then said,"I know where this line of questioning is going, but it's not what you're thinking. It had nothing to do with Liam." She blew out a breath, as she added."It was about his dad. Well, his step dad."

"What about him?" Isaac asked confused. "He hasn't-"

"No." Teagan said with a shake of the head, knowing he was going to ask if he threatened her or anything. "The night of the party, when I went to pick him up. I talked to his step dad some. He told me he knew my mom."

"What?" Isaac asked surprised.

"That was my reaction too." Teagan said. "Apparently he went to the same college as my parents and had a few classes with my mom. I wasn't expecting that though and when he brought it up it surprised me. So when I saw him tonight, I was just thinking of all of that, about my mom... and the other stuff."

"The haunting?" Isaac asked, even though he already knew the answer.

Teagan nodded her head, as tears filled her eyes, before saying,"I'm trying to get better, Isaac. I'm trying to put it behind me, but then someone brings her up or ask something about what happened and it comes rushing back." She reached up to wipe the tears from her face, as she added,"Or it could be something simple as walking down the hallway at school and I hear whispery words. I turned around, scared she is going to be there, scared it is happening again and realize it's just someone quietly talking to their friend or something."

"It's going to take time to heal from all of that, babe." Isaac pointed out, as he laid his arms on the counter top, wrapping them around her.

"I know, but with all of this, it just-it makes me realize, I'll never fully be me again, I mean the old me. The one who use to walk this town and never had to worry about looking over my shoulders. The girl who's biggest worry was hoping I studied enough for the upcoming test. The one who use to be able to think of her mom without feeling a chill down her spine." She licked her lips, tasting the salt from her tears, before continuing,"But then, I think about everything I've been through since coming back here. Finding out about this new world full of werewolves and so on, all the close calls, all the battles we've been in. Then I think about how much how much I've grown from all of that, how strong I am now and I realize how much I have changed. And it makes me realize, I haven't been normal in a long time."

Isaac shook his head, arguing with her, as he said,"Teagan, you are normal. You-"

"No, it's okay." Teagan interrupted. "I'm not normal. Our life isn't normal, at least some people wouldn't think so if they heard about it, but it's the only life I can imagine living anymore. This life scares the hell out of me, but it's our life and that's okay. It's okay that I'll never be the old me again, because even when things are bad, I like this version of me." She lightly ran her fingers against his lips, as she softly said,"You brought out the best version of me. You changed my life with one kiss."

Isaac smiled at her words, as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers. After a sweet and gentle kiss, Teagan pulled back to look at him, as she said,"I love you, Isaac. Only you... Which is why I wish you would stop giving Liam such a hard time."

She was surprised when she saw an angry look come over his face, as he took a step back from her and asked,"So that's what this little speech was about? For Liam?"

"What? No!" Teagan said, as she shook her head. She reached out to grab his hand, then pulled back when he jerked away from her, causing her face to fall. "Isaac, I said what I said cause it's the truth. I just-I don't understand-"

"Understand what?" Isaac interrupted. "You don't understand why I have such a problem with some newbie freshman getting all buddy-buddy with my girlfriend and our friends when there are assassins out there wanting to kill us."

"So wait, you think Liam got himself bitten just so he can get into our circle of friends and kill you all from the inside?" Teagan questioned with a small laugh, as she jumped down from the counter. "Isaac, that's crazy-"

"Is it?" Isaac questioned. "He was friends with Garrett and Violet, who did end up being assassins. Maybe he knows more than he is saying."

"It's not possible." Teagan said, as she shook her head.

"Why? Cause he smiles and flirts with you, you suddenly think he is trustworthy." Isaac snapped.

"Whoa, wait... That's not-He doesn't do that, Isaac!" Teagan said, as she shook her head unsure how this conversation even went in the direction it was going in. "He's just a kid! He's pack and-"

"He's not my pack." Isaac said, as he stubbornly folded his arms across his chest.

"He's Scott's beta. If we're a part of Scott's pack, then that makes Liam pack too." Teagan pointed out. "He needs us, Isaac."

"He doesn't need me, but apparently he needs you, and you're always there, aren't you." Isaac stated, as he shot her a look that was a cross between disgusted and heartbroken.

"Isaac..." Teagan softly said, as she reached out to him. She didn't mean to upset him, she was just trying to explain to him that the jealousy he felt toward Liam was unnecessary, but now everything was a mess and she just wanted to make things right.

"We should call it a night. Get some sleep." Isaac said, not looking at her.

She called out his name, feeling tears fill her eyes as he pulled away from her. Without another word, he walked out the kitchen and made his way upstairs to shower before crashing in the spare room.

Teagan stood in the same spot, staring at the doorway he just walked out of, as she tried to make sense on what just happened. They were having a nice moment, a good talk, then she stupidly brought up Liam and everything changed. He got anger then shut down.

She didn't know what he thought was going on between herself and the young beta, but she could bet whatever bad thing he was thinking wasn't true. She meant what she said earlier, he was the one she loves, he was all she wanted.

When she felt something bumping against her hand, she turned her head and softly smiled when she saw it was Aspen; who had just come back inside the house. She gave him a few pets on top of the head, as she said,"I know, buddy, I just royally screwed up."

She glanced back over at the doorway, wishing Isaac would walked back into the room, giving her a chance to make things right, but the more minutes ticked by and he never did walking in the room, the worst she felt.

She sat down on the floor, wrapping her arms around Aspen, as she buried her face in his fur. She sat there for a while, deep in thought. Isaac was there, in the same house as her, but at the moment all she could feel was the distance between them. It was a feeling she felt before during the whole pregnancy scare, but now that feeling was back and she hated it. She just wanted things back to normal, she wanted their normal again.

**~(The next morning)~**

Richard walked into the kitchen, his eyes went to the large French styled doors leading outside as the early morning shined into the large open room. He started towards the coffee pot, but stopped when he heard Avery say, "Please don't step on me."

He looked down to see his teenage daughter lying on the kitchen floor in the same clothes she'd worn the day before.

"What are you doing down there?" He asked, as he looked at the empty alcohol bottle and glass in the sink.

"Having an existential crisis." She sighed as she stared up at him.

Raising his head he looked around the kitchen and asked, "Want some company?"

"I don't know." She quietly answered.

Sitting down on the floor he laid down on his back his head a little ways over from hers with his body in the opposite direct of her, looking up to the ceiling he asked, "Have you been down her all night?"

"Yeah."

"What happened?" He questioned looking over at her, but she kept her eyes locked on the ceiling as she sighed and said, "I screwed up."

"We all make mistakes, Avery." He comforted, "You're still healing."

"Can't you be a normal dad and just yell at me? Or ground me or something as punishment?" She questioned.

"You want me ground you?" He asked with a laugh.

"I'd deserve it, I'm still a teenager and I drank last night." She sighed, disappointed in herself for slipping up.

"Well…" He breathed, "Why did you drink?"

The simple answer was that she was hurting and wanted something to numb the pain, but after hours of lying in the silent room and replaying the day in her head she knew the answer was much deeper than that.

"I think… I think…" She stopped as her voice cracked for a second before she cleared her throat and got a handle on her emotions, "Dr. Sharpe says sometimes I do destructive things to push people away so they can only stay at arm's length and I don't get attached."

"So you drank to push someone away?" He asked, looking back over at her, before rolling his head back over the tile and staring back at the ceiling.

"Maybe, I'm not really sure. I think sometimes I just set myself up to fail."

Taking a deep breath he slowly let it out before he questioned, "Who are you trying to push away? Derek?"

Her answer was revealed in her silence.

"Okay…" He breathed, "Well… if this one little slip up pushed him away then screw him. Everyone's messed up in their own ways, some of us more than others… but the only people, the only friends you need are the ones who understand and love you regardless; like Teagan."

"Thanks dad." She said with a smile.

Just as he started to sit up she questioned, "But I think that's part of the problem… Derek's trying so hard to be better to me than he was before and I'm just worried it's not going to last. Like, what if I fully trust him again and let myself be happy and then he leaves again?"

Her dad was quiet for a moment as he reasoned, "That's just it, no one can promise you it's not going to happen. But Avery, there is also no guarantee that it will happen either. And you can't just spend all of your time worrying about the what ifs, you've got to let go of some of that.

"Plus… I've seen him with you and I honestly don't think he's going anywhere. Despite how complicated everything is in your life right now, you're lucky to have that. Derek is trying to hold onto you so instead of pushing him away… maybe you need to be hanging onto him as hard as he's trying to hang onto you." He said, then trying to lighten the mood he said, "Us Dukates aren't the easiest people to get along with, you know?"

She laughed and turned her head to look over at him as he continued, "And sometimes Avery… I see so much of myself in you, it's scary."

She was silent how she considered it was true, she might never admit it out loud or to anyone else but she was a lot like her dad –she'd picked up so many of his traits especially the bad ones.

"Was that the door?" He asked, shaking her from her thoughts.

They remained on the floor in silence until they heard high heels clicking on the floor and another set of footsteps, before Lydia said, "Oh my god. They've finally done it… they killed each other."

With a laugh Richard said, "Good morning, Lydia."

"Morning, Mr. Dukate." She called back before sitting down at the kitchen island and watching as Stiles walked over and opened the refrigerator surveying the contents before he picked up a storage container with a few left over pieces of pizza and joined her at island as he asked with a mouth half full of food, "Are you guys okay?"

"I'm not sure yet." Avery honestly admitted with a pained grunt as her cat walked right over her stomach.

Sitting up Richard made a grunt of his own as he said, "I'm too old to be down here."

Everyone laughed as he finally got himself stood up and dusted his suit off before carefully stepping around Avery's body to start a pot of coffee as he asked the teens, "What are you doing here? Don't you have school today?"

"Yes, but we're not going." Lydia admitted as she said, "We just came to get Avery."

"I can't go anywhere." Avery called out, "I'm grounded."

A shocked expression fell over Lydia's face as she stared at her best friends dad, knowing very well Avery had never been grounded a day in her entire life; no matter what she did wrong.

"Grounded, for what?" Stiles questioned as he finished off another piece of pizza.

"Underage drinking." Avery replied, not budging from her spot on the floor.

"What is happening?" Lydia asked growing more confused by the minute.

"She's having an existential crisis." Richard filled his daughters best friend in, as he poured himself a cup of coffee and stepped back over Avery to head for his office as he called over his shoulder, "She's not grounded either, please get her out of the house she's been on the floor all night."

**~()~**

That morning Teagan slowly pulled herself out of bed and changing into a pair of running shorts and loose fitted tank top. After a stressful scrimmage the night before, as well as arguing with Isaac, she needed to run. She needed that release and hoped it relieved some of the anxiety she was feeling.

Once she was dressed and ready to leave, she went down the hallway, peeking into the spare room and saw Isaac laying in the middle of the bed on his stomach. She couldn't tell if he really was asleep or was just ignoring her at the moment.

With a small shake of the head, she quietly closed the door, then made her way downstairs. Seeing her dressed for a run, Aspen ran over to her, wanting to join her.

"Sorry, buddy, you can't go this time." Teagan said, as she pet the dog on top of his head.

She let him out in the yard, as she sat some food and fresh water out for him. Once he came back in, she locked the doors, then made her way to her car. She drove to one of the smaller parks in town. There were usually a few people there so she wasn't completely alone, but not so many that she felt over crowded. She wanted to be alone with her thoughts, but knew it was wise to be around people as well.

After stretching, she began to slowly jog, warming up before she began to push herself harder. As her feet slapped against the pavement, her mind flashed back to everything that had happened since she, Isaac and Avery arrived back in town. The pregnancy scare, Kate being alive, berserkers, assassins, new beta. All the stress, all the fights between Isaac and herself. Not to mention she still grieving over losing Allison and healing from being haunted by her mother. She honestly didn't know how much more she could take. There was too much happening at once and she was beginning to wonder if there would ever be any end in sight.

She turned down a dirt path, running faster, as her breathing began to come out in short gasp and she felt her chest tightening up. She skid to a stop, leaning over to rest her hands on her knees, as she felt her eyes fill with tears. Running was supposed to make her feel better, but instead, all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and cry.

After taking several deep breaths, getting better control of her emotions, she decided to walk down the trail as she began to cool down from her run. She turned a corner and lowered her eyebrows in concern when she saw Liam and his friend Mason.

She saw Mason trying to talk to Liam, but the other boy was basically ignoring him until he broke off into a run, leaving his confused friend behind, as he called out his name, trying to get him to stop and come back.

"Mason, hey, what's going on?" Teagan questioned, as she made her way over toward him.

"I dunno. I was just trying to talk to him, about Garrett and Violet and he just took off." Mason answered, still confused about his actions.

"It's okay. I'll talk to him." Teagan offered. She gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, as she added,"He's going to be okay. We'll meet you at school later, okay?"

As Mason nodded his head, Teagan began to run down the path, going as fast as she could as she tried to catch up with Liam. She was a fast runner usually, but chasing a werewolf was different than chasing a human.

She had been running for several minutes, calling out his name every so often, when finally she came upon him, as he was laid on the ground. Thinking he had fallen and hurt himself, she began to run over to him. She didn't see the car that had hit him, hiding off on the side.

"Liam! Are you okay? What happened?" Teagan questioned, as she fell down to her knees beside him.

Liam groaned, grabbed his side, feeling his broken ribs from when Garrett hit him. He opened his mouth to tell her what happened, until he saw Garrett walking up behind her.

"Teagan, look out!" Liam yelled out, but it was too late.

As soon as she turned her head, Garrett hit her on the back of the head before she could even react. The hit on the head caused her to pass out instantly. He looked over at Liam, as he took a few steps toward him.

"Why did you do that?" Liam called out, as he tried breathed though the pain he was feeling. "She's not on the list."

"No, but she's a bargaining chip and she'll make a nice distraction." Garrett answered, as he looked over at the brunette in question. He looked back at Liam, as he added,"Scott can't run around saving you both and do what I want all at the same time. He'll have to make the right choice, do what I tell him to or be responsible for two deaths."

Liam looked over at Teagan, trying to remember what Scott taught him about listening for heartbeats. All he could hear was his own racing and couldn't tell if hers was still beating or not.

"Of course, regardless of what happens, they'll blame you." Garrett said, seeing the guilty look on his face, as he watched Teagan. He gave him an evil grin, as he added,"It's all your fault, Liam. Her death will be your fault. Everything is your fault."

**~()~**

"So why did I have to come with you? Avery asked as she followed Lydia and Stiles up to the police station.

"Deputy Parrish is on the dead-pool." Lydia pointed out as she came to a stop and turned to face her friend.

"And that concerns me, how?" Avery questioned with raised eyebrows.

"You know him right? I've seen you guys together and you're close." Lydia said with raised eyebrows,

The blonde folded her arms over her chest and stared at her friend.

As Stiles reached the door he turned around to see Lydia and Avery both standing still, facing each other with their arms folded over their chests and almost matching expressions on their faces.

"Whoa… okay… what is going on?" Stiles asked as he darted back towards them.

Dropping her arms to her side and sighing Avery said, "I just want to go home."

Looking over at Stiles, Lydia said, "She's not going home."

Avery rolled her eyes in response.

"Look…" Stiles sighed as he ran a hand through this hair, "Lydia think's you're our best shot at getting him to listen to us, and without his help there is no talking to Meredith which means we don't get the cypher key to the third list, which we need."

"Why do you think he'll listen to me?" She asked her friends.

"I don't know! Lydia just thinks he'll listen to you." Stiles exclaimed, "Maybe it's a banshee thing."

"Maybe it's a girl thing." Lydia argued.

"Whatever type of thing it is, we need to try. Let's go." He said as he grabbed Avery's arm and pulled the blonde into the station with Lydia right on their heels.

Once they were inside and the found Deputy Parrish, he looked at the group of teens his gaze lingering on Avery for a moment before he looked at Stiles and said, "You're dad should be back within the hour, you want to wait in his office?"

"Actually… we wanted to talk to you." Stiles told him.

"Okay…" He said waiting for one of them to explain what was going on but as a few other officers walked past them, Avery spoke up and said, "Privately."

He stared at her wondering what was going on but he didn't budge, there was a part of him that felt like he didn't want to know what was going on.

Looking between the young deputy and the blonde teenager as they continued to stare at each other with unreadable expressions, Stiles cleared his throat and pointed out, "We could use my dad's office."

Once they were all inside, Lydia explained about how they'd managed to find a cypher key to decode a list of names that they thought the assassin's in town were using to pick their targets.

Stepping forward, Avery handed him the list of names from the second list only she'd folded the paper right above his name so he couldn't see that right away. Parrish looked at the paper and said, "So this is a hit list?"

"We call it a dead-pool." Lydia nodded, causing him to shake his head as he looked back down at the paper and Stiles asked, "Recognize any of the names?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "The sheriff had me run a bunch of these through the system last night, but we couldn't find any of them."

When the teens all exchanged looks, Deputy Parrish asked, "What?"

"Show him the other thing." Stiles nodding to the paper in his hands.

With both Stiles and Lydia looked at her, Avery rolled her eyes and stepped forward as she turned the paper over in his hands to reveal the name at the bottom of the list.

He looked at her confused for a moment before he looked back down at the paper and finally saw what they were nervous about telling him.

Unfolding the paper all of the way he stood up from where he was leaned against the desk and turned away from the group of friends as he said, "Okay… that's kinda terrifying…"

Avery frowned and looked down to the floor wishing she'd been able to just tell him he was on a list when they were alone instead of all three of them bombarding him with the information.

As he continued to stare at the list he noticed a number five out next to his name and asked, "What's the number mean."

"That's how much you're worth." Lydia answered as she glanced around the room.

Turning back towards him he appeared angry as he questioned, "I'm worth five dollars?"

Holding a hand up Stiles said, "Million… five million."

With a stunned expression he replied, "I only make forty thousand a year…"

Avery raised her head and looked at him with raised eyebrows as she considered not that long ago she and her friends had fifty thousand in cash on them to buy Derek back from the Calaveras and apparently that was more money that Parrish made in an entire year.

As he continued to stare at the list they'd given him, he mumbled under his breath, "Five million… maybe I should kill myself."

Lydia pulled in a deep breath as she glanced over at Avery and Stiles breathed out, "Whoa…" as his gaze immediately dropped to the floor.

Raising his head Parrish saw Lydia staring at Avery and Stiles appeared to be trying to look at anything but the blonde, then his eyes locked with Avery's but he couldn't read the expression on her face or the look in her eyes other than she appeared shocked.

He started to ask what happened but Stiles took a step closer to Avery as he protectively said, "We, uh… we don't really think suicide jokes are funny."

"No, no at all." Lydia backed what he said.

"Oh my god!" Deputy Parrish exclaimed when he realized what he'd just said, "Avery, I'm sorry. I didn't think before I said that-"

Waving a hand and blowing out a heavy breath she said, "It's okay."

"It's not." He argued, but words couldn't show how sorry he was really was. He'd been there that night with her and he'd almost watched her kill herself, he didn't think it was funny either.

Offering a small, but weak smile she nodded and said, "No, really it's okay… what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?" She ended her sentence as she tucked her hair behind her ear and looked back down to the floor

The deputy swallowed hard still feeling incredibly bad for what he'd said, but he also knowing he needed to remain focused, "I don't get it, why I am even on this?" He asked.

"Honestly, that might be a question for another day… right now there's still another third of the list we gotta crack." Stiles spoke up with slightly narrowed eyes.

"In order to do that we need the third cypher key… but we need help getting it." Lydia explained as she reached over and Avery's hand a small, supportive squeeze.

"From who?"

"Meredith." Lydia responded.

"The girl from Eichen? The last time you guys tried to talk to her you almost gave her a nervous breakdown." He said shaking his head back and forth as he started past them towards the door, but Avery grabbed his arm stopping him as she reasoned, "Almost."

He looked down to her hand she quickly let go, spilling an apology as Stiles pulled a folded up paper from his pocket and said, "Look, we wouldn't be asking if we had another choice. But there are already two lists of names… every single one with a price on their heads."

Deputy Parrish walked back over to the desk and looked down at the list he'd left laying on it as Stiles continued, "The assassins out there have all three lists, they know who their targets are but we don't know a single name on the third list, we can't warn someone if we don't know who they are."

Laying a printed copy of the first list down next to the one the deputy was looking at Stiles said, "All we have are these."

"Stiles, wait-" Avery tried to stop him, once she realized what paper he hand but it became clear she didn't stop him in time as Deputy Parrish's eyes widened and quickly grabbed the paper off of the desk, his eyes focused on a single name: Avery Dukate. The only friend he'd managed to really make and someone who'd grown extremely close to. And now he couldn't stop looking at it or the extremely large number beside it, she was worth more than four times what he was which put her in way more danger than him.

He looked up at her finally, his face a little pale as he asked, "If you get this third cypher key, will it help determine who put these hit-lists out so we can stop them?"

"It will put us a step closer." Avery answered honestly, then continued to explain, "That night I was in here with Derek and you tracked the wifi signal from the glove to the school and it said money transferred from the benefactor. That's what we need to figure out, is who's funding this entire thing. We can't do that without all the information."

Stiles opened his mouth to help her argue considering a few moments before the deputy seemed entirely against them talking to Meredith for any reason, but Parrish nodded and said, "Alright, let's go."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks to SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, and Exuberance of Youth for reviewing the last chapter! We really appreciate it. ^_^**

**We really hope you guys all liked the chapter.**


	26. Monster

**Chapter Twenty Six – Monster**

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><p>Isaac pushed the entrance door opened and made his way inside the school building with his cell phone against his ear. When Teagan's phone went straight to voice mail again, he sighed, as he said,"Teagan, hey, call me back, okay? I know I was a jerk last night, and I'm sorry. You have every reason to ignore me, but with everything going on, I need to know you're okay."<p>

He turned a corner, seeing Scott talking to Mason. He began to walk toward them, hoping Scott has seen Teagan already. He blew out a breath, as he said into the phone,"Please just call me."

"Hey, have you seen Teagan?" He asked, as he came to a stop in front of Scott and the younger boy.

As Scott shook his head, Mason spoke up and said,"I saw her earlier."

"Wait, what? You saw her? Where?" Isaac asked, as he turned his attention to Mason.

"Earlier, while me and Liam were on a run. I guess she was too." Mason answered. "Liam ran ahead and she went after him."

"Of course she did." Isaac mumbled, as he blew out an annoyed breath, feeling his anger returning. He looked back over at Mason, as he asked,"Well where the hell is Liam now? Is she still with him?"

Mason shrugged, as he said,"I don't know. She told me she would get him to school, but I haven't seen him and he won't answer my text."

Isaac looked down at his cell phone, as he began to have a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He had been trying to call her ever since she left the house. He had heard her come into his room, but he didn't feel like rehashing their argument from the night before, so he acted like he was asleep. Then after he heard her leave, he got up, realizing she was going on a run and waited for her to come back before they had to leave for school, but once she didn't he began to call her.

The first few times all it did was ring, but then it started going straight to voice mail. She hardly ever turned her phone off. He could only think of one time she did it which was during the pregnancy scare when they argued and she was avoiding him. But even then she at least text him before she turned it off.

He looked back up at Scott, giving him a look to let him know something wasn't right. Scott nodded his head in understand, then patted Mason's shoulder, as he said,"Hey, don't worry, I'll find him. But text me if you see him or Teagan, okay?"

Mason nodded his head, before walking away from the two boys. Isaac nodded his head off to the side, telling Scott to follow him, as they went down another hallway, a more deserted hall way, so they could talk privately.

"Something's wrong. I've been calling and texting her all morning." Isaac said, as soon as they were alone.

"Is that normal?" Scott questioned.

"No, well I mean, she did it one time before, but other than that, no. It's not normal." Isaac answered. "At first I thought she was just ignoring me cause we argued last night, but-

"About what?" Scott asked, curious.

"It's not important." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "But even during the other time, she at least sent me a text, but this time, nothing. I haven't heard anything from her, something is wrong. I can feel it."

"It's okay, we'll find her." Scott said, trying to put his mind at ease, but even he was starting to worry. First Liam missing and now Teagan.

Isaac nodded his head at the words, he knew he would do whatever to find her. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, they heard a cell phone ringing. He quickly looked down at his phone, hoping it was Teagan finally calling him, but was disappointed to realize it wasn't even his phone, it was Scott's.

Scott glanced down, seeing the call was coming from Liam's phone, then looked up at Isaac, as he answered the call,"Liam?"

"Sounds like you already know the answer to that, Scott." They heard Garrett saying back.

"Where is he?" Scott questioned.

"Come on. Like I'm actually going to tell you that?" Garrett said back.

"I'll give you the money." Scott offered.

"Yeah, you will. But that's only going to get you Liam back." Garrett said. "If you want the other one, you're going to have to put in a little more effort than that."

"What other one?" Scott asked, even though he already had a good idea what the answer would be.

"Tell Isaac to check his phone." Garrett said. He had a feeling the beta was right there listening in.

Hearing a text message coming in, Isaac glanced down at his phone, feeling his heart drop when he saw he had a message that said it was from Teagan's phone. He looked at the picture, seeing that it was a picture of Teagan tied up in a chair with her head down, her hair covering her face. He couldn't tell how badly she was hurt, but just knowing Garrett had her, just knowing she was in danger, set him off.

"Son of a bitch!" He yelled out before throwing his phone. He didn't even react as the phone slammed into the wall, breaking into a million of pieces.

He jerked the phone out of Scott's hand, as he snapped,"Where is she?"

Garrett breathed out a chuckle, as he said,"Do you really think I am dumb enough to tell you that?"

"Actually, yeah I do. I think you're dumb as hell for even touching her and unless you want to die a slow and painful death, you'll tell me where she is now." Isaac snarled.

"Well, right now, she's sitting here right in front of me." Garrett said sarcastically. "She's been out for a while, I guess I must have hit her a little too hard." He added, causing Isaac to growl at him over the phone.

Garrett laughed at him, then opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, he saw Teagan shifting around, as she slowly began to come to. "Oh, look, Sleeping Beauty is waking up now."

As soon as she woke up, Teagan could tell she was tied down and tried not to panic. She knew that would just make things worst and she would never get out. She needed to stay calm and levelheaded, remember all the things Allison taught her when it came to things like this. Believe it or not, tying down a potential hunter was actually normal. They were taught how to get out situations like this.

Garrett lowered the phone as he took a step closer to her. He pointed a finger at her, as he said,"Now if you don't scream, I'll take this off." referring to the bandana he had tied around her mouth.

He removed the gag, then placed the phone on speaker. He held it out toward her, as he asked,"Anything you want to say?"

Teagan lifted her eyes to look at him, but refused to say anything. She assumed he was just trying to make a recording or screw with her somehow until she heard him. Until she heard Isaac called out her name.

"Isaac..." Teagan breathed out, as tears filled her eyes.

"Teagan, babe, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I'm going to find you, okay? I swear I will find you. It's you and me, okay?" Isaac said, as he gripped the phone, his breathing labored as he spoke to her. He didn't know what kind of game Garrett was trying to play, but he would find her. All he knew was he was not going to lose her.

"Always." Teagan whispered back, as a tear rolled down her cheek.

"Where are you? Anything stand out to you?" Isaac questioned. He figured Garrett wasn't going to allow them to talk long, so he figured he needed to ask the question fast.

"I don't know. I'm in a cabin, but I-" She began to say, until Garrett grabbed a handful of her head, pulling her head back, as he called out,"Nuh-uh, that's enough."

Isaac, hearing her cry out in pain, yelled out,"What did you do? Teagan!"

"She's fine." Garrett said, as he placed the phone against his ear. "She was just talking a little too much."

"Wait until I find you and trust me, I will find you. I'll make you pay for this." Isaac threatened him, as he took several deep breaths, trying to stay in control of his anger. He was pissed and all he wanted to do was give into that anger and severely hurt Garrett, but first he needed to save Teagan first. That was the most important thing and for that he needed to stay in control, he needed to think smart.

"That sounds like a threat to me." Garrett said. "Are you sure you really want to threaten the guy who can do this?" He questioned, as he turned around and slapped Teagan's across the face, causing her to cry out.

"Hey! Listen-"

"No, you listen!" Garrett yelled, interrupting Isaac. "You and Scott need to meet me by the buses in twenty minutes or his beta and your bitch will die."

Before Isaac could say anything else, Garrett ended the call. Scott, having heard everything, looked over at Isaac, seeing how eerie calm he was, but knew that wouldn't last for long. He knew Isaac was going to explode soon.

He rushed over to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him outside before he did something to draw attention to them. He led Isaac toward the back of the school, where the buses were parked.

They were almost to the buses when he finally exploded. He yelled out several cuss words before punching the brick building so hard he chipped one of the bricks. Scott called out the beta's name, as he grabbed his arm, stopping him from punching the school building again.

Isaac turned his head to look at Scott, his breathing labored, as his eyes flashed yellow. He jerked his arm away from Scott and turned around, planning to walk away, until Scott called out his name, asking him where he was going.

"I've got to find her, Scott!" Isaac yelled out. "I can't-I can't just leave her out there. I always promised I would protect her. I told her no one will hurt her and now she is, and it's all my fault!"

"You couldn't have known Garrett would take her." Scott pointed out.

"No, but I could have not been a dick to her last night." Isaac snapped, as he took a step toward Scott. He took a few more steps as he continued."I could have not ignored her this morning. I could have got up with her, told her I loved her, told her I'm sorry and I could have went with her." He reached up and swiped away a tear he didn't even realize had fallen from his eye. "I could have done all of that, but I didn't, cause I'm a screw up! I keep screwing up with her and now I'm gonna lose her."

"You're not going to lose her." Scott softly said, as he laid a hand on his shoulder. He knew how it felt to lose the love of your life, and he didn't want that for Isaac. He wouldn't want that for anyone. He was going to do whatever to save his pack, they were not going to lose anyone else.

**~()~**

Once they reached Eichen House, the group went inside where Deputy Parrish said he needed to speak to one of the patients about an ongoing case and the secretary at the front desk had the nearest orderly take them up to Meredith's room.

Avery stood next to Deputy Parrish in the hallway, as Stiles and Lydia leaned against the wall and watched the orderly fumble with the large key ring trying to locate the right key.

Hearing a door open behind them, Avery turned around to see the person she was hoping to avoid on their visit –the head orderly Brunski.

He paused looking at the trio of teens with the young deputy before he started their way and Avery took a step closer to Parrish as Stiles breathed, "Oh not this guy…"

"What the hell are we running here? A bed and breakfast? You do not just open the door the anyone with a gun and a badge." Brunski's voice echoed through the hallway as he pushed past them to get to the other orderly, practically knocking Avery over in the process.

Parrish's gaze lingered on Avery for a moment before he looked Brunski with an angry expression at him almost knocking the teen over and said, "We need to talk to Meredith Walker."

When Brunski looked back at him, Parrish continued, "It involves a murder investigation."

Eyeing the teens then turning his focus back on Deputy Parrish, he spoke harshly as he said, "Well you can talk to her all you want, but these three…" Pointing between Stiles and Avery he continued, "Especially those two, they're out of here."

"They're crucial witness's in an ongoing murder investigation, I wouldn't have brought them here if it wasn't absolutely… crucial." Parrish said, lowering his eyebrows at his own inability to find the right word.

Stiles and Lydia exchanged looks of disbelief at how entirely unprofessional and thrown together the deputy's sentence sounded.

"Alright deputy, how about you come back with a court order, then I'll listen." He said in a condescending tone as he continued to stare the young officer down.

When she saw Brunski give Parrish an amused looked like he was on the verge of laughing at him, Avery spoke up, "I think what he's trying to say is that the three of us are fundamental to the investigation and it would be pointless for him to question Meredith without us."

"Is that so?" Brunski questioned turning his attention to the blonde teen.

She swallowed hard, realizing it was the wrong time to speak up but she just couldn't stand the way he was looking at Parrish.

"You know Avery, I'm surprised you'd willingly step a foot back in this building. I can practically still hear your screams echoing through the halls." He taunted with a criminal smile, "Untie me right now. You have any idea who I am? I'll have your jobs for this." He continued, repeating the things back to her that she'd screamed out when they'd restrained her with the 5-point restraint system.

She took a deep breath and avoided his eyes, feeling like she was getting smaller by the second as he callously said, "Daddy's money doesn't do you much good in a place like this sweetheart, not when all your screws are loose up here." He said motioning to his own head.

"That's enough." Deputy Parrish said with gravel in his voice as he put an arm out in front of Avery and protectively pushed her behind him.

"How about you come back with payment in full." Brunski said as he stepped closer to Stiles getting up in the teens face, "That's right, daddy may be the sheriff but he's late on the bills. I guess those government jobs aren't as reliable as they used to be, huh?"

Parrish arched a brow as he pointed out, "But they do help when you need a favor. Like, how a month ago Canaan P.D helped you get home after blowing a .1 on a breathalyzer."

Avery looked up from the floor with a wide smile on her face as she saw Brunski's expression. Looking over to Parrish she saw the smug look on his face and she ran her tongue over her bottom lip as she held back a laugh.

Cracking a smile and knowing he'd been defeated, Brunski said, "Alright. I'm not against a little… quid pro quo. Not at all."

Slapping the keys against Stiles' chest he muttered, "Not at all…" As he turned and walked away leave them with the keys.

Parrish glanced over at Avery with a smile, before holding his hands out to get the keys from Stiles who gladly handed them over as he said you, "You… I like you, I'm gonna keep you."

Avery looked down to the floor still fighting the smile on her face as she couldn't agree more with what Stiles said.

Pushing the door open to the room, the group walked in to find Meredith sitting on her bed in the quiet room.

"Hi Meredith." Lydia greeted as she walked in to the room, sitting down on the other bed and facing the banshee while Stiles sat down beside her.

Avery leaned against the wall as Deputy Parrish shut the door behind them and leaned against it.

"We need the third code." Stiles announced.

"I… I can't tell you." Meredith quietly answered.

"What do you mean you can't tell us?" Lydia breathed out in irritation.

"All we need is the third key!" Avery backed her friends.

Nodding Stiles added, "You can give it to us in numbers, letters, hieroglyphs… whatever you want."

"I can't."

"Then why did you give us the second key?" Avery asked, not understanding why Meredith wouldn't just tell them what she knew.

"I wanted to help." She replied, looking over at the blonde before her gaze moved to Deputy Parrish and she continued, "That's what I want to do. I want to help."

"Great!" Lydia exclaimed, "So help us now."

Leaning forward some and losing patience by the minute Lydia instructed, "Give us the third cypher key."

"Things t-things have changed…I, I can't." She said, seeming distressed as she picked at a loose thread on her clothes.

"Why not?" Stiles asked, his voice a little louder than he'd mean for it to be.

"Guys, go easy on her." Parrish cut in, remembering the breakdown she'd had the day Lydia and Avery wouldn't let up their questioning at the police station.

"I'm sorry! I can't he –he doesn't want me to." Meredith stuttered out, shaking her head back and forth.

"Who's he?" Avery quietly asked.

When she stayed quiet Lydia loudly asked, "Meredith, who doesn't want you to tell us the third cypher key?"

"The benefactor." She answered.

Avery's friends looked over at her and she stared back at them with the same confused expression, wondering how Meredith knew so much to begin with and also why she wouldn't do more to help them.

"Who's the benefactor?" Deputy Parrish asked, but didn't push any farther as Meredith shook her head back and forth,

"What's his name?" Avery questioned.

"Just tell us his name." Lydia exclaimed when the other banshee still wouldn't talk.

"I… I can't…"

"Meredith…" Lydia yelled, "Tell us his name!"

In response she just kept shaking her head back and forth, more violently by the second as Stiles asked, "You just keep shaking your head, does that mean you don't know or you just don't want to help us?"

"I… I…. I can't, I can't! I can't help anymore." Meredith's words were jumbled as she began to rock back and forth not able to sit still as they fired one question after another at her.

"How do you even know about him?" Lydia yelled.

Meredith started to make frustrated, almost pained noises as she rocked faster and flung her head from side to side.

"Guys, I think we better stop." Deputy Parrish said.

"Meredith, a lot of people are going to die if you don't tell us." Lydia yelled over the deputy, knowing that Meredith was their best hope at the cypher key to get decode the last part of the dead-pool.

"I don't know… I don't, I don't know! Please, I don't know!" She yelled shaking her head back and forth with such force it was painful to watch.

Stiles looked down to the floor feeling bad, and Deputy Parrish took a step closer as he said, "Meredith, you're gonna be alright."

Lydia stood between the beds and watched Meredith continue to panic and freak out, she knew the other banshee knew more than she was letting on.

"Meredith…" Parrish said as she continued to grow more agitated by the moment.

"I –I don't know!" She shrieked, so loud that the sound made Lydia's knees buckle from under her and she fell back onto the bed, where Stiles caught her and held her still as her body shook while Meredith's voice continued to echo through the room.

Letting out a pained noise Avery covered her ears and felt her legs go weak too. She'd been around Lydia when she'd screamed before and it was painful, but nothing like the pain that shot through her with Meredith's scream.

Her legs started to give way beneath her, she didn't know if it was because she was an Imperium or what the reasoning was but banshee screams affected her more than her friends.

But just as she started to fall she felt someone wrap their arms around her and keep her standing. It wasn't until Meredith stopped screaming and threw herself backwards on the bed away from them that she realized it was Parrish who'd kept her standing.

"Are you okay?" He asked her, his eyes full of concern and worry.

Avery almost seemed in a daze as she slowly looked over to the where Stiles was holding Lydia's face in his hands; the redhead had a trail of blood running from her ear.

"Avery?"

Turning her had back to face him her eyebrows furrowed with confusion as she had no idea what happened.

"Are you alright?" He asked louder.

She nodded but still seemed slightly dazed from everything that had happened.

Looking to the other teens he said, "Guys, I think that's enough for today, we need to go."

After what had happened, neither Lydia or Avery had the strength to protest as they were both led from the building by Deputy Parrish and Stiles.

**~()~**

After ending the call, Garrett looked over at Teagan with a smirk on his face. She shook her head at him, as she said,"He's going to find me. Whatever you have planned, whatever you want him to do, it won't work. Isaac won't stop looking until he finds me."

"I know." Garrett said, as he reached down to grab a duffel bag from the floor. "I was counting on him coming after you."

He opened the bag, digging around in it, as he continued,"You know, Violet wanted to go after someone high on the list for a while now." He pulled out a couple of arrows, as he added,"Now we will and once I get her back, we'll have enough to disappear forever."

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out. "This was your plan all along."

"Not originally." Garrett admitted, as he took out more things from the bag that he would need to set up a trap. "But it's a damn good plan." He looked up at her with a smirk, as he continued,"And this time I won't fail."

"So you were after Isaac at the game." Teagan said, assuming that is what he meant by the comment.

"No, but he is who I was after when I ran him off the road." Garrett said like it was no big deal.

"That was you?" Teagan called out. "You could have killed us!"

"That was the plan." Garrett stated with a smile, as he looked up at her. When he saw the look she gave him, his smile fell, as he snapped,"Don't look at me like that. Don't judge me when you're the one running around with monsters."

Teagan shook her head, her anger getting the best of her, as she snapped,"You got it all wrong. You and your murdering girlfriend, are the monsters."

Garrett stepped over to her, roughly grabbing her chin and forcing her head up. He pointed a finger in her face, as he angrily said,"Hey, watch it!"

He released her chin and took a step back, as he continued,"We're not the bad ones here. We're not the ones on a list cause we're an abomination. We're just doing the town a service by getting rid of them."

"You are killing innocent people!" Teagan yelled out. "My friends are not monsters! They're not trying to hurt anyone. They're just like you and Violet, we're all the same, Garrett. We're all just trying to survive. We are not your enemy."

"At the moment you are." Garrett stated. "Right now your friends are standing between me and a big pay day and getting my girl back."

"So you hate them, but you're going to use them to get what you want." Teagan pointed out. She scoffed, as she shook her head, and said,"I hope your plan fails."

"Shut up!" Garrett said, warning her.

"I hope it fails. I hope you get caught and I hope you never see your bitch girlfriend again!" Teagan screamed at him.

"I said shut up!" Garrett yelled back, as he raised his hand and slapped her across the face, causing her head to snap to the side.

Teagan lowered her head, biting her bottom lip to keep from crying out in pain. Her breathing picked up as she tried to keep from losing it. She was trying to be brave, but she couldn't deny how scared she was.

She was stuck in a small cabin with a killer. Someone who would kill for a lot of money. Not to mention all the pain she was in. Her head hurt from when he knocked her out, her arms and legs were hurting from being tied to a chair for who knows how long and now her face was hurting. She licked the corner of her mouth, tasting blood from her lip being busted.

She closed her eyes, feeling a few tears sliding down her face, but no matter how scared she was or how much she was hurting, she wouldn't break down in front of him. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. She took a deep breath, getting better control of her emotions, then slowly released it as she thought back to her training.

Even if her hands were tied together behind her, she began to wiggle around her fingers, trying to get the blood flowing and get feeling back into them. While Garrett's back was turned to start on the trap he wanted to set up for Isaac, she shifted down in the chair, moving her hands under the chair and feeling along the bottom, her fingers going over the staples that was holding the fabric in place.

She used her finger nail and began to loosen one of the staples, a small smile appears on her face, as she realized if she continued she could remove one and maybe use one of the sharp ends to cut into the cheap rope around her wrist to free herself. It wouldn't be easy, but given enough time she knew she could do it. This is what Allison taught them to do, always look for a way out, always look for a way to save yourself.

She couldn't help but flash back to one of their many lessons back when they got together at the house that belonged to Avery's mother. Not only did Allison train them on weapons and how to fight, she trained them for a situation exactly like the one she was in.

_**~(Flashback)~**_

"Is this really necessary, Allison?" Avery questioned, as she tugged on the rope tied around her wrist.

"Unfortunately, it is." Allison answered, as she walked in front of the two girls. Each one was sitting in a chair, their hands tied behind their backs.

Allison paced in front of them as she continued,"This is actually one of the first lessons for a hunter, but I decided to do it a little later. I thought self defense and weapons were a little more important, but this is important too."

"So this is what hunters do to each other?" Teagan asked. "Just tie each other up, then just stand there and watch? That's a little cruel if you ask me."

"Trust me, this way, is a lot more gentle." Allison said, as she thought about when her dad had her kidnapped. Next thing she knew she was tied and gagged to a chair with her father across from her tied up too. It wasn't until a few minutes later when he got free that he explained this was all part of training.

She didn't want to be that kind of trainer though. Which was why she told Teagan and Avery ahead of time that they were going to be tied up, giving them a chance to back out before she went through with it. They agreed to it, but they still weren't happy about it.

"The sad truth is, one day, one of us could be taken for any number of reasons. If that happened, you need to know how to get yourself free. You always need to look for a way out, several different ways to get out of any situation. You can't just have a plan A, you need a plan A through Z. If one plan fails, go straight to the next one." Allison explained, as she walked back and forth in front of them. "But no matter what, never give up. Stay in control and stay calm."

Allison came to a stop in front of them, as she stated,"Échouons, respirer, essayez à nouveau."

"What?" Avery asked.

"Fail, breathe, try again." Teagan translated.

Allison nodded her head, as she said,"Some situations you find yourself in is not going to be easy. You will fail the first time, and the time after that and the time after that, but you can not give up. When you do fail, just breathe and then try again."

As both girls nodded their heads in understanding, Allison turned around to grab two arrows off of the table before walking over to them. She laid an arrow in each of their hands, giving them a chance to cut the rope and freeing themselves.

"This time, I'll give you something to help cut yourself loose. But you won't always have a weapon on you. Sometimes you'll have to find another way to get free. If the chair back is weak, keep shifting around and pulling on it until it breaks loose. Feel along the edges and underneath to see if you can find a pin, staples or something to cut the rope. These are just some of the other ways to get loose. But no matter what, always look for a way out. I promise there is always a way out."

_**~(End of flashback)~**_

Teagan took another deep breath, staying in control, as she continued to work on the staple underneath the chair. That day it took her hours to cut the rope, several more than it took Avery and there were many times she wanted to give up. Every time she accidentally dropped the arrow, she would scream out that she couldn't do it, but Allison would come behind her, picking up the arrow and placing it in her hand again, as she whispered out,"Échouons, respirer, essayez à nouveau."

After loosening the staple more, she pulled on it with her finger nails, then breathed out in frustration when it slipped from her fingers and fell to the floor. She shook her head, as willed herself to calm down and try again.

"Échouons, respirer, essayez à nouveau." She quietly whispered to herself, as she moved her fingers underneath again until she found another staple.

"What did you say?" Garrett asked, as he turned around to face her, causing her to stop what she was doing.

"Nothing." Teagan said, with a shake of the head. "I didn't say anything."

Garrett nodded his head, accepting her answer, as he pulled a jar from the bag. There was a small bit of yellowish substance on the bottom of it, but she wasn't sure what it was.

He grabbed an arrow, dipping it inside the jar, as he questioned,"Do you like games, Teagan?" When she shook her head, he chuckled as he added,"I find it hard to believe you don't like any games at all. You and Isaac never played a board game or bedroom game before?"

He laughed again at how stubborn she was, as she turned her head, refusing to answer his question. He shrugged, as he said,"Well either way. I have a fun game I want to play. It's called 'Guess which arrow is poisonous'." As she turned her head back to look at him, he lifted the arrow out of the jar, as he added,"See I only have enough wolfsbane for one arrow, but there are two ways out of this cabin."

He pointed to the door behind him, as he said,"We have the front door..." He pointed behind her, where a couple of other rooms were and at the back was another door. "And we have a back door."

"Now, I'm not sure which door Isaac would choose when he bust in to save you, so I need arrows at both, meaning one arrow will be fine. It's going to hurt like hell, but he'll be able to pull it out and have a second chance to live." He nodded his head to the wolfsbane arrow, as he continued,"But the other arrow will kill him in his tracks. As soon as this stuff makes it to his heart, he'll die, right in front of your eyes."

Teagan stared at him, not saying a word, her body slightly shaking in fear and anger. He chuckled at her, then began to set up the arrow to fire as soon as the front door or back door opened.

Once he was done, he turned back around to face her, as he said,"See, I'm not a complete monster. If he picks the right door, there is a chance he'll live and I won't get paid. But choose the wrong door and it's jackpot for me." He flashed her a smile, as he asked,"Fun game, right?"

Knowing she wasn't going to answer, he looked down at the time, seeing it was time to meet with Scott and Isaac, time to set his plan in motion. He grabbed the bandana that was covering her mouth earlier, then began to walk over toward her.

When he reached out with it, she jerked back, unsure what he was going to do. He held up his hands, showing he wasn't going to hurt her this time, then used the bandana to wipe away the blood from the side of her mouth.

"I'm going to go meet up with Scott and Isaac." Garrett told her. "Any last words you want me to tell him? I mean, just in case he picks the wrong door and you don't get a chance to later?" As she looked at him, still not speaking a word, he shook his head, as he added,"So no? No words at all. What about that quote you two say all the time? 'It's you and me'?"

Teagan took a shaky breath, tears filling her eyes at hearing their words coming from him. Those words were for her and Isaac, it gave them strength to get through anything together. It was personal for them and hearing it from him made her sick to her stomach and filled her with anger.

"Now, sit tight." Garrett said, chuckling at his own joke. He patted the side of her face, as he added,"Like you said, help is on the way."

**~()~**

Lydia and Avery walked into Avery's house after they'd said bye to Stiles.

"What do we do now?" Avery asked as she stood in the doorway to the downstairs bathroom as Lydia washed the blood off the side of her face.

"I don't know…"Lydia sighed as she shut the water off and inspected the side of her face in the mirror, "I guess we could go to Stiles' house and try to break third key."

"Actually... Derek thinks he knows where he can find Satomi's pack. He's probably out looking right now, so I'm probably going to help him." She said, as she moved out of the door way to allow her friend through

Avery took her cellphone out of her pocket and sighed when she realized it was still off from the night before when she'd been avoiding Derek. She started to turn it back on but stopped and looked up as her friend asked, "You've been spending quite a bit of time with him, huh?"

"Well…" Avery began to say, "We're sort of back together…"

"Sort of? What does that even mean, like you're just sleeping together?" Lydia asked with her arms crossed over her chest.

Rolling her eyes Avery admitted, "No, we're completely back together."

Lydia nodded, but her lips pressed into a thin line as she looked down and adjusted the strap of her purse on her shoulder.

"What?" Avery asked her, seeing her friend was obviously holding something back.

"Nothing." Lydia answered, her voice higher pitched than normal.

"Lydia…" Avery sighed, shaking her head back and forth.

Spinning on her heels, the redhead started for the front door as she kept her eyes glued to the expensive flooring. As she neared the door and was aware that her blonde best friend was right behind her, she glanced over her shoulder and said, "I just kind of thought you'd moved past Derek, is all."

"Lydia, come on. I'm already getting enough crap from Teagan over this." Avery said as she stopped next to the inside of the door and crossed her arms over her chest feeling defensive.

"I'm not giving you crap about it. Maybe you've forgotten about how he fled town and left you here while you were spiraling out of control, but I didn't, A. I won't forget that because unlike Derek, I was here… so was Teagan, so of course she's going to give you crap for that." Lydia said, her words harsh but her tone was soft.

"He had reasons for not being here, you know?" She quietly argued with a small shrug.

"I'm sure he did." Lydia breathed out irritated as she opened the door, then turned to face her friend and added, "But you should have been a big enough reason for him to stay."

Avery's mouth angled down in a frown as she said, "Things are different this time, he's different. Lydia, he's trying so hard to prove how much he loves me… and he's the one who pulled me back you know? That night when I…" Her voice trailed off and she swallowed hard before continuing, "He was the only one who got through to me, he saved me."

Lydia nodded, offering a hopeful smile as she said, "For your sake, I really do hope things are different this time."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading guys. We hope you're all having a great holiday season.**

**Thanks to SmellYourScentForMiles, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, and xxxRena for reading and reviewing the last chapter. ^_^**


	27. Counting Stars

**Chapter Twenty Seven – Counting Stars**

* * *

><p>Avery pulled her car to a stop behind Derek's on the side of the road and threw her hand up to offer a wave as she saw Derek and Malia standing just outside of the woods.<p>

As she got out of her black Escalade, she used the key fob to lock up and started towards her boyfriend and friend.

"Hey." She called out.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked her surprised.

"You called me last night… saying you thought you knew of a meeting place for Satomi's pack." She reminded.

He nodded, "Yeah. But I guess when you kept ignoring my calls and then shut your phone off… I figured you weren't interested in it."

She shifted on the dried leaves and sticks under her feet as he crossed his arms over his chest and shot her a look.

"I'm sorry… I just, I had a really rough night and I was going to call you this morning but then Lydia and Stiles showed up. Basically we spent the better half of the day at Eichen with Deputy Parrish and we're still no closer to figuring out the third key." She explained.

Holding his hands up to silence her Derek questioned, "I know you think finding the last third of the list is important, but so is this…"

Cutting him off Malia asserted, "Finding the third cypher key is important. It's very important."

Derek shot her a confused look and Avery pointed out, "She just wants to know if she's on there and for how much."

Malia shook her head and looked around but stopped as a chilly breeze blew through the woods and carried with it a familiar scent.

"What?" Avery and Derek questioned the werecoyote at the same time, when they saw her face twist with an uncertain expression.

"Gunpowder…" She informed them.

They looked around until Avery's eyes stopped on some bullet shells on the ground. "Derek, here" she said as she leaned down and picked on up before handing it to him.

With a defeated sigh he closed his hand around the casing and shook his head as he realized, "If Brett's pack is out here I don't think they're meeting… they're hiding."

As the trio searched the woods some more, Derek filled then in on what he knew about Satomi and her pack. She was one of the oldest werewolves alive and as a bitten werewolf it was a long journey for her to learn control. But once she became an alpha she continued to grow her pack, teaching them all control by focusing on a mantra.

The sun had already set by the time they made it back to the cars, Avery got into Derek's car with him and Malia as he started it and turned the heat on.

"I'm sorry." Malia said as she leaned between the front seats and looked between Derek and Avery.

"There's nothing to be sorry for." Derek said as Avery assured her, "You did your best."

Derek nodded and looked around the inside of the car, his attention drawn over to Avery who was shivering in the thin long sleeve shirt she had on. Adjusting in his seat he pulled his own jacket off and leaned over as he helped her pull it on.

She smiled softly at him as she whispered, "Thanks."

He returned the smile, his eyes lingering on her face until Malia spoke up from the backseat and said, "I knew it."

The both turned their heads to look at her and she pointed and motioned between them as she continued, "I knew there was something going on between you guys."

"Can't get anything past those werecoyote senses, huh, Malia?" Avery joked with a small laugh as Malia nodded her head and said, "You really can't, I pick up on everything."

Derek and Avery exchanged looks at how the brunette hadn't picked up on Avery's sarcasm. Malia, not understanding continued to go on as she motioned to Avery, "You were so determined to find him in Mexico, even after they tortured you and then all the fighting between you and Teagan. I really thought the two of you were going to fight to the death."

Avery shook her head and Malia pointed to Derek as she said, "Teagan did not want to be there either, she really doesn't like you."

"I hadn't noticed." Derek said as he rubbed his forehead trying to think of where else Satomi's pack could possibly be, but Malia kept talking "Really? It's really easy to tell… she doesn't try to hide it all."

"Malia!" Avery exclaimed as she looked back at her friend and said, "He knows she doesn't like him, everyone knows she doesn't like him… it's sarcasm, remember?"

"Oh, like Stiles!" Malia gasped.

Then her eyes widened as she said, "That's it! Stiles… we need to think like Stiles if we want to find this pack."

Avery blew out a heavy breath and lowered her head thinking Malia wasn't being the least bit helpful at all, and Derek looked back at Malia as he questioned with an amused look, "Like a hyper active spaz?"

"Like a detective!" Malia asserted.

Derek shook his head but Avery straightened up in her seat as she breathed, "You're right! If Satomi's pack can alter their scent to hide from other wolves then we're not going to be able to find them. We can't track them like werewolves, we need to dig deeper."

Nodding Malia added, "You guys told me their Buddhist, right? So maybe instead of asking where werewolves hide, we need to be asking…"

"Where would Buddhist hide?" Derek realized, as he looked between the teenagers with a renewed sense of hope. Giving some more thought to the situation and remembering everything he could, Derek breathed out under his breath, "When Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree, he looked to the east for enlightenment."

"Is there an eastern point in Beacon Hills?" Malia asked.

Derek looked down to the dash of his car and stared at the direction gauge as he tried to think, but Avery didn't miss a beat as she gasped, "Yes! Lookout Point."

"Lookout point?" Malia asked.

Nodding the blonde explained, "It's this point in the woods where it overlooks the city…teenagers go there all the time to hookup."

"Oh." Malia said, seemingly intrigued by the new information as she opened her door to get out of the car and asked, "So you know where it is?"

"Oh yeah, I could probably find the place even if you blindfolded me." She laughed, until she saw Derek looking at her with raised eyebrows and she let out a breath as she backtracked, "Not that I've been there often or anything…."

Once they were all out of the car, Avery led them towards Lookout Point until Malia made a disgusted noise and stopped walking as she laid a hand on Derek's arm and brought him to a stop.

"What is it?" Avery asked, turning to face them.

"You don't smell that?" She said placing a hand in front of her face as she turned to Derek.

"Wait for me, right here." He urged them as he started to walk away from them.

"Malia, what did you smell?" Avery pushed.

The brunette shook her head and with a wrinkled nose she admitted, "Death… it smells like death."

Avery's eyes widened and she said, "Malia, stay right here. I'll be back."

Before her friend could even protest, Avery rushed off in the direction Derek had went until she found him and he put an arm out in front of her and brought her to a stop.

She looked at the look on his face, then slowly turned her head and saw what had Derek looking so upset; there were bodies everywhere. All of them belonging to Satomi's pack, there were men and women of all ages –even some children. Every single one of them –dead.

"What happened?" Malia asked as she found them.

"Maybe they were poisoned or something… I don't see any external wounds but they seem to be bleeding from their faces…" Avery realized as she took a careful, slow step forward.

"Oh that's great. If the assassin's with guns don't get you then the ones with wolfsbane poison will, or maybe one with no mouth." Malia continued on, getting more worried about her name possibly being on the last list.

Avery looked over seeing the completely broken expression on Derek's face as he continued to stare at all of the dead werewolves. Reaching down she grabbed onto his hand and laced their fingers as Malia continued to worry out loud, "Maybe we should all be running from Beacon Hills, running as fast as we can. Running for our lives…"

**~()~**

Isaac paced back and forth, as Scott leaned back against a bus while they waited for Garrett to show up. Isaac wanted to leave, start searching for Teagan, but Scott was finally able to talk him into waiting for Garrett. He explained that Garrett could have Teagan and Liam, literally anywhere and it would take longer trying to locate one of them, then just waiting twenty minutes for Garrett.

But as more minutes ticked by, the more agitated Isaac became, and he was starting to think waiting was the worst idea in the world. He was seconds away from leaving and sticking with his original idea when Garrett finally walked over to them.

"Where is she?" Isaac asked, as he stepped toward Garrett. He felt Scott throwing out his arm to stop him from walking any closer to the freshman.

"First thing first..." Garrett began to say, as he looked over at Scott, as he said,"You're going to help me get Violet back. I get my girl..." He looked over at Isaac, as he added,"You get yours."

"Okay, what do you want?" Scott questioned. He wasn't sure how they would get Violet, but if that is what he had to do to save Teagan and Liam, he would do it. "You want me to go to Stilinski? I can do that. Or I can talk to my father. He's a FBI agent." He suggested.

"You think I want you talking to anyone with a badge? I'm not getting help from a werewolf because I want him to talk to someone." Garrett pointed out.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Scott asked.

"They are transferring Violet to a federal facility. You are not gonna let that happen." Garrett said.

"How?" Scott asked.

"Well get to that later." Garrett said. "Right now is the time for you to decide if you're helping or if you're going to be responsible for two deaths."

"I'll help. I do whatever." Scott said.

Garrett nodded his head, then said,"As soon as I get the money and Violet, you get the location of Liam."

"You're not getting anything until you tell me where Teagan is." Isaac snapped, as he slapped Scott's hand aside, as he tried to stop him again from walking toward Garrett.

"It's okay." Garrett said, as he looked over at Scott. "He's right. You're going to help me, so the least I can do is help in return, right?"

The two boys watched as Garrett pulled a bandana from his pocket. "Now, I'm not going to come right out and tell you where she is. That would be too easy, but..." He held out the bandana, as he added,"I'm sure you can pick up her scent with this."

Isaac took the bandana from his hand and felt his heart drop when he saw blood on it and could smell that it came from her. He jerk her his head up, looking at Garrett as he let out a growl before charging toward him.

"You sick son of a bitch!" Isaac yelled, as he slammed Garrett against one of the buses and laid his arm against his throat.

Scott called out for Isaac, but he couldn't hear him. All he could think of is what the asshole could have done to Teagan, all he could think about was her laying somewhere bleeding and dying. All he could think about was losing her, having to live the rest of his life without her. In that moment he had no hope, he only had anger and he wanted Garrett dead.

"Isaac!" Scott yelled, as he grabbed the beta and finally succeed in pulling him away from Garrett before he could choke the life out of him.

"Is that any way to treat the person who just gave you a gift?" Garrett questioned, as he rubbed his throat. "She's not dead..." He began to say. He shot Isaac a smirk, as he added,"Yet."

Scott saw Isaac preparing to attack again from the corner of his eye, causing him to quickly grabbed his arm to stop him. He turned to face the beta, as he said,"Go! Go to Teagan. Go save her. That's what's important right now. Go!"

Isaac nodded his head, knowing Scott was right. As much as he wanted to kill Garrett now, saving Teagan was more important. He had no idea what all Garrett did to her or how badly she was hurt. He had already wasting enough time and didn't want to waste another minute.

With that thought in mind, he turned and quickly walked away from Scott and Garrett. He remembered earlier when he spoke to her, she mentioned being in a cabin and he knew there were tons of small abandoned cabins in several different places in the woods, but it at least gave him a place to start looking.

He made his way into the woods, trying to catch her scent. He wasn't sure how long he had walked or how far into the woods he was, when he finally caught a whiff of her scent. He followed the faint scent until it began to get stronger, then finally, as the sun began to set and darkness was starting to set in around him, he came upon an old cabin and quickly made his way over toward it. He knew it had to be the right one, he knew she was in it.

Teagan snapped her head up, hearing the old wooden porch cracking as someone walked toward the front door. She wasn't sure if it would be Isaac; who was finally able to find her or Garrett returning for something. She honestly wasn't sure who she was hoping it would be. As much as she wanted to see Isaac, she knew as soon as he opened a door an arrow was going to hit him and one of those arrows had wolfsbane on it.

She held on tight to the staple between her fingers. She spent hours pulling out staples, every time she got one out she either dropped it or was able to only rub it against it thin rope a few times before it would slip out of her hand. But no matter how many times she failed, she kept trying. She could tell she was close to breaking the rope, she just needed a little more time. A little more time to get free and remove the arrows before Isaac walked in.

When she heard the footsteps stop at the door, then saw the door knob turn, she knew it had to be Isaac. Garrett wouldn't open the door he knew he had booby-trapped. She gasp before yelling out,"Isaac! Don't!"

"Teagan!" He yelled back. "Are you okay?" He questioned.

"I'm okay, but don't-don't open the door." Teagan called out. "It's a trap! He knew you would come after me and he has it booby-trapped with arrows. One of the arrows has wolfsbane on it."

Isaac beat his hand on the door, as he breathed out annoyed breath. He should have known this was all a trap. He didn't know what all was waiting on him inside, but he didn't care. She was in there and he needed to get to her, he needed to see with his own eyes that she okay.

"I don't care. I'm coming in." He called out, as he reached for the door knob.

"No! Don't!" Teagan screamed. Tears rained down her face, as she cried out,"Isaac, please, please don't come in. You could die, okay? If you walk in that door, you could die."

"I don't care." He said again, as he punched the door in frustration. "Teagan, I don't care. I don't care what happens to me, I-"

"Well I do care!" Teagan yelled back, interrupting him. "I care, Isaac! I love you and I need you here, I need you in this world with me, okay? This is not going to be our ending."

"It won't be." Isaac said back. "Look, if I-if I'm fast enough, I can catch the arrow as soon as I open the door."

"Isaac, please, don't" Teagan pleaded, as she pulled on the rope, trying to break it loose.

"It's you and me, Teagan. It's always you and me." Isaac said, as he reached out for the door knob.

"No!" Teagan yelled, as she yanked on the rope, finally feeling it snap as the door opened.

She felt like time slowed down as she saw the arrow coming toward Isaac when he stepped over the threshold. He threw up his arm, trying to catch it, but it went through his hands and hit him in the shoulder.

Teagan screamed out his name, as she jumped out of the chair and raced over to him, falling on the floor beside him. He laid on his back, breathing through the pain, as he told her to pull the arrow out. She wiped the tears from her face, then grabbed the arrow. She quickly apologized before she yanked it out of his shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain.

Isaac laid his hand on the wound, feeling it closing up, as he sat up a little and held out his hand, wanting her to give him the arrow. He brought it up to his face, sniffing the end of it. He breathed out a sigh of relief, as he fell back against the floor. He looked up at her and said,"It's not wolfsbane."

"It's not wolfsbane?" Teagan questioned, making sure she heard right. As he nodded his head, telling her again it wasn't, she breathed out a chuckled, relieved he was going to be okay. "It's not wolfsbane." breathed out, as a small smile appeared on her face.

Isaac smiled, as he sat up beside her and laid a hand on the back of her neck, pulling her toward him as he pressed his lips against hers. She whimpered out a little when he hit the cut on her lip.

He pulled back to look at her, really seeing her for the first time. Other than the cut on her lip, she had one on her forehead and back of her head, as well as several bruises on her face. He lightly ran his finger over her lip, then over the small bruise on her jaw, feeling his heart break at seeing the state she was in. This was never supposed to happen to her. He was supposed to be the one to protect her, but he wasn't there when she needed him the most.

Seeing the look on his face, she wrapped her hand around his wrist, as she whispered out,"I'm okay. Isaac, I'm okay."

"I'm sorry, Teagan, I am so sorry." He breathed out, as tears filled his eyes.

"You don't have to apologize." Teagan said, as she shook her head. She reached out to lay a hand on the side of his face, just wanted to touch him and be close to him. She felt a tear fall down her face, as she whispered out,"Just tell me that you love me."

"I love you, Teagan. I love you so much." Isaac said. "Come here." He softly added, as he pulled her toward him.

She sat in his lap, feeling him wrap his arms around her tightly, as she rested her head in the crook of his neck. Now that it was all over and she was safely in his arms, she couldn't stop herself from breaking down.

She cried out, as she realized how much worst things could have been. She thought about how she almost lost Isaac, she was only in his arms cause he picked one door over another one. If he had come through the back door he could be taking his last breaths right now.

"I could have-I could have lost you." She choked out in between sobs, as she laid her hand on his chest, gripping his shirt.

"And I could have lost you." Isaac said back, as he tighten his grip on her. He kissed the top of her head, keeping his lips against her skin, as he breathed out,"I screwed up. I'm so sorry. I should have been there."

Teagan shook her head, as she said,"If you would have been there, he probably would have killed you instantly." She raised her head to look at him, as she said,"So I'm glad you wasn't there. I can't lose you, Isaac. Not now, not ever."

"You won't, I'm right here. This isn't our ending, okay? Not today." Isaac said, as he leaned down to tenderly kiss her forehead. "It's you and me, always." He softly said, as he caressed her face, being careful with all the cuts and bruises.

"Always." She whispered back, as she smiled at him before burying her face in his shirt.

As happy as she was that they were both okay now, she knew this wasn't the end. Garrett and Violet were not going to stop coming after them, not to mention whoever else had the list.

Things might be okay right in this moment, but things were not going to stay okay. She felt a cold chill settling in, similar to what she felt after Avery closed the door in her mind and around the time Allison died, making her fear something worst was on the horizon. Something none of them were prepared for.

**~()~**

After saying bye to Malia and telling Derek she'd see him later, Avery sat in her car and watched as they drove off. Taking a deep breath she turned her car on and started the heater as she hugged Derek's jacket against herself and pulled her phone from her pants pocket.

She sighed, realizing she'd never turned it back on to begin with after ignoring Derek, it seemed like forever until her phone located a signal, and text after text started to come though from Scott and Isaac.

She had several voicemails from them saying that Teagan and Liam had been taken by Garrett and they needed her help.

"Oh my god!" Avery breathed as her heart started to immediately race inside of her chest. As she tried to call her friend's phone but it was off.

Quickly dialing Stiles' number she placed it to her ear and nervously tapped her foot on the floor board until he answered, "Avery?"

"Stiles! Oh my god, my phones been off all day and…" She started to yell in a panic

"It's okay, Teagan's fine." He quickly said.

"Oh thank god." Avery exclaimed relieved as she hung her head and felt so guilty for not having her phone on where her friends could reach her. Teagan had been missing half the day and she had no idea.

"Liam's…" Stiles breathed out into the phone, "He's not doing so good, Scott and Chris Argent are taking him to the clinic but they can't get ahold of Deaton."

Avery asked, "Where's Teagan?"

"Isaac's getting her home, but she's fine." Stiles assured her.

Avery took in a deep breath and asked, "What do we do now?"

Looking to his jeep, Stiles said, "Lydia's still trying to figure out the other key… you could come over?"

"No… I'm going to swing by Teagan's and check on her, but let me know if you guys figure anything out." She said before ending the call.

Pulling in a shaky breath she started to call Teagan but before she could her best friend called her, after apologizing over and over for not having her phone on, Teagan assured her that it wasn't her fault and that she was okay.

But she asked Avery to go to the clinic and see if there was anything she could do to help Liam, and to text her with updates as soon as she had them.

Pulling to a stop outside of the animal clinic, Avery rushed inside and quickly found the room where Scott and Chris Argent were hovering over an exam table where Liam was laying shirtless.

"Did you get ahold of Deaton?" She asked, as she walked into the room.

"No." Scott said frantically as he slammed his phone down on a counter and rubbed his face

Avery looked down to Liam's face as his eyes weakly fluttered open and he looked back at her.

She still worried about whether Liam would ever be able to control his shifting and she didn't know if they could trust him, he was still possibly the weakest link in the pack and one slip up from him and he'd out them all. It would be simple enough for her to pretend she didn't know how to help, to just let him fade away.

A horrible thought but it would be one less problem they had, one less burden the pack needed to carry.

With that thought she looked up and offered a small smile to Chris Argent who greeted her back, and in that moment all she could think about was Allison.

Lowering her head tears stung her eyes as she remembered her fallen friend and everything they'd been through together but most of all she thought of what Allison would say to her now. She'd remind her of their code, a code that Allison, Teagan and herself had all swore to uphold; that they would protect the ones who weren't able to protect themselves.

Stepping closer to the table Avery looked down at Liam and shook her head knowing exactly what she needed to do.

Sliding the hairband off of her wrist she pulled her hair as she asked, "Do you know what kind of wolfsbane they got him with?"

Scott ended the call he was trying to make to his boss again as he asked, "Can you save him?"

Looking back to Chris Argent she slowly nodded as she said, "I'm going to try."

"We don't know what kind of wolfsbane Garrett used, but the wound where it entered his body has already closed up." Mr. Argent explained as he looked to the blonde teen.

Avery nodded as she looked down to the wounded beta wolf and asked, "Where did he get you at?"

Liam's breathing grew labored as the person he trusted least in the world stared down at him.

"Liam it's okay." Scott said, rushing to his beta's side as he heard his heart starting to pick up speed.

"M-my chest." He admitted, his voice strained from pain as he watched Avery turn around and start rummaging through drawers.

After locating what she needed, she turned back around with a scalpel in her hand. Seeing the light reflecting off of the razor sharp blade, Liam's eyes widened and he started to try and get off of the table, away from the one who'd threatened his life on several different occasions.

"Hold him down." She instructed, but Liam continued to fight as he pointed out, "She's going to kill me!"

Scott raised his head and looked at Avery who assured him, "I know what I said before, but things are different now. You bit him… and whether I like it or not he's a part of our pack –which means it's my job to help him. I'm not going to kill him."

Then looking back to Liam she said, "I'm not going to kill you."

But it was clear he didn't believe her as he continued to struggle against the hold the hunter and alpha had on him.

"Liam!" Scott yelled, "She's trying to help you."

Avery nodded in agreement, but she understood why Liam didn't believe she was trying to help him.

"I don't care, I don't trust her." He yelled back, but was getting weaker by the second.

"I do." Scott said as he looked back to Avery.

Liam stopped struggling, none of them were sure if he was trusting what Scott said or was simply too weak to keep fighting but once he was still Avery stepped closer to the table; resting one hand on his shoulder and placing the scalpel against his chest as she said, "Liam, I need you hold perfectly still… don't even breath if you can help it."

He swallowed hard and pinned his eyes shut as he felt the blade starting to cut deep into his skin. With a slow but steady hand, Avery pulled the blade downward keeping the pressure firm as it sliced into his chest and a yellow smoke poured out from the open wound.

The room was silent for a few moments before Liam finally took a deep breath and the wound closed back up. Scott laid his wrist on the beta's forehead breathing a sigh of relief when he could already feel his temperature dropping back to normal.

Placing his hands on the table Scott lowered his head and took another breath before he looked back up to Avery as she laid the blade down on the counter net to the sink as he said, "Thank you."

With a small shrug Avery quietly responded, "It's my job…"

Shaking his head Scott said, "I don't…no, I can't keep watching people die."

"I'm not sure you have much choice about that." Chris Argent reasoned.

"Maybe I do." Scott countered as he stood up.

"That's a lot of burden to carry, Scott." Mr. Argent pointed out.

"I don't care." He argued shaking his head, "No one else dies. Everyone on that list, everyone on that dead-pool; it doesn't matter if they're wendigos, or werewolves or whatever. I'm going to save everyone."

Nodding Avery reached over and grabbed his hand as she smiled and said, "I'm not as optimistic as you about this… but I'll help you, I'll do everything I can."

He smiled back nodding in thanks as he squeezed her hand back.

After Liam was strong enough to finally be back on his feet, Scott got a blanket to wrap around the teenager and Avery offered to take them both home since Chris had been the one to drive them to the clinic.

As Scott led Liam outside, Avery turned to Mr. Argent as he put a hand on her shoulder and said, "You saved his life."

With a weak laugh Avery said, "Yeah, good thing Kate broke the fingers on my left hand. If it had been on my right hand I wouldn't have been able to hold the blade steady enough."

He frowned as he saw her opening and closing her left had a few times trying to get rid of the numbness that sometimes set into the fingers that had been broken.

"I tried calling you…and the other night you just took off without even saying bye to me." She started to point out but he quickly cut her off as he said, "I know, I kept meaning to call you back but I've been busy… and it just, it just never seemed like the right time."

Swallowing hard she looked down to the floor as she pointed out, "We all lost her…"

"I know." He agreed, knowing that like Teagan had told him about them needing to stick together, Avery was right too –he wasn't the only one who'd lost her.

"It's okay." She quickly said offering a smile as she pointed out, "You're here now, where you belong. With the people who care about you." She finished her sentence by stepping up and hugging him.

As he returned the hug he smiled, thinking how much Avery and Teagan reminded him of Allison. And as painful as that was, it was also comforting to know that his daughters memory lived on through her closest friends.

After saying goodbye to him, Avery headed out to her car as she sent Teagan a text letting her know that Liam was fine and she was taking him home.

**~()~**

Isaac wasn't sure how long they sat on the floor of the cabin just holding each other, but ever how long it was, it wasn't long enough for him. He honestly never wanted to let her go, but he knew they couldn't stay there for too much longer. They didn't know if Garrett would show back up or not. Plus he wanted her to get all the cuts on her face and the back of her head checked out.

He couldn't talk her into going to the hospital to see a doctor, but he at least talked her into going to Melissa. Luckily she didn't have a concussion or any serious injuries. After Melissa cleaned the cuts and bandaged her up, she talked to Scott and learned that he found Liam. He was planning to take him to the animal clinic while he tried to get in touch with Deaton.

Teagan wanted to go to the clinic to be there for Liam, but Isaac pleaded with her to go home. He pointed out there was nothing she could do for Liam and she would mostly be in the way. Plus after the day she had, she needed to rest. She realized he was right, she was only human and frankly she was exhausted after the day's event.

Once they arriving at her home, she took a long, hot shower, while Isaac sat in the bathroom with her. He said it was to keep her company, but they both knew it was cause he didn't want to let her out of his sight, which was fine with her cause after what happened, she didn't want to be alone or away from him.

Afterwards, she was laying in her bed, while Isaac ran downstairs to grab her a bottle of water and aspirins. He walked back into the room a few minutes later, seeing her holding her phone while deep in thought.

"Is everything okay?" Isaac asked, as he walked further into the room and sat down on the bed in front of her.

Teagan nodded her head, as she said,"I heard back from Avery. Liam is okay. She was able to get the wolfsbane out of him."

Isaac nodded his head at the information, but didn't say anything. Instead he held out the water and aspirins, as he said,"Here. Melissa said earlier you needed to take something once we got you home."

"Thanks." Teagan said with a small smile.

As she popped the pills in her mouth and took a sip of water, Isaac asked,"Do you want anything else? I could call something in, have it delivered. We could have your favorite, chinese."

Teagan flashed him a genuine smile at the offer, then said,"Thanks, but I'm honestly not that hungry."

"You should eat something, babe." Isaac said, as he reached out to lightly touch her face. The guilt eating at him, as his eyes took in all the marks on her face. He still felt like he should have been there. He never should have argued with her the night before or ignored her that morning. She should have never been alone for Garrett to grab her.

Seeing the way he was looking at her, she lowered her eyebrows, as she quietly asked,"Do I look that bad?"

"No." Isaac breathed out. He scooted closer to her, as he leaned forward pressing his lips against the bruise on her jaw. He kissed a few other placed on her face, giving each bruise attention, before he pulled back to look at her. He laid his hand on the side of her neck, as he said,"You're beautiful, Teagan. You always are and nothing will change that."

She saw him looking over the bruises and cuts on her face again, then saw him swallow the lump in his throat and knew he was beating himself up about it. She knew he was blaming himself for not being there to protect her.

"Hey.." She softly said, as she grabbed his wrist. When she got his attention, she said,"Don't do that. Don't blame yourself. Just stay here with me, okay? Stay in this moment with me." She wrapped her leg around him, getting closer to him and sitting in his lap, as she continued,"We're both okay and we're here together. That is all that matters."

"He should have taken me. Everything that happen to you, should have happened to me. He should have left you alone." Isaac said.

"If he would have taken you, you probably wouldn't be here now." Teagan pointed out.

"Maybe I shouldn't be." Isaac mumbled, as he lowered his head.

"Hey..." Teagan said, as she grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Don't ever say that. Isaac, I would be lost without you. My world can not survive without you in it."

"But look at everything that has happened to you because of me." Isaac said, as he began to list off all the bad things that have happened to her.

She shook her head, interrupting him, as she said,"But none of that is because of you, Isaac." She laid her hands on either side of his face, as she said,"You did not pull me into this world, but even if you did, I wouldn't regret it, cause at the end of the day, all I want is to be with you. I'll always choose whatever world that lets me be with you."

She leaned forward to softly kiss his lips, as she whispered out,"I'll always choose you, Isaac. Even with my last breath I'll choose you."

Isaac laid his hand on the back of her neck, keeping her close to him, as he stared at her. It was moments like this that made him realize he could never walk away from her. He knew he probably should. Her life would be better without him in it, she would be safer, but he was selfish. He loved her too much to walk away.

As if knowing what he was thinking, she smiled, as she added,"And if you were to ever try to break up with me again to protect me, it's not going to work. I'm not letting you go. Or if you ever did try to walk away, I would just follow you. It's always you and me, Isaac."

Isaac smiled at her words, giving her a gentle kiss, as he said,"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere." He brushed a lock of hair from her face, as he added,"I probably should, cause you deserve better than me, but I can't walk away from you."

"There is no one better for me than you." Teagan pointed out. She laid her hand on his face, as she said,"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here. You have saved me so many times and you are the reason I worked so hard to fight my mom. I couldn't stand the thought of hurting you or leaving you. Anytime things get too hard and it would be so easy to give up, I think of you and it makes me stronger. We really are stronger than anything that tries to tear us apart."

"Even today, knowing that Garrett wanted to hurt you, I knew I had to do something. For hours I thought about you as I tried to get free. You kept me going, Isaac. You always do.

**~()~**

"So this is the money from Garrett's locker?" Avery asked as she sat down on the floor with Scott and Stiles at Scott's house. Her eyes focused on the large sports duffel bag Scott had pulled out from under his bed.

"This is it." Scott nodded.

"How much is there?" The blonde asked as she pulled her hair out of the bun she'd pulled it up into at the clinic earlier and rubbed her scalp.

"I haven't counted it." Scott explained as he unzipped Garrett's bag to reveal the money.

"We probably should count it." Stiles agreed with Avery as he scooted close to the bag.

Avery watched as Scott and Stiles both lifted the bag up and dumped the stacks of hundreds out the floor between them.

"What is this?" She questioned as she saw a cassette tape land on the carpet next to the money.

Taking it from her hand Scott shrugged and looked at the tape as he said, "I don't know…"

After digging through his closet for a few minutes Scott finally found a radio with a cassette player, the teens plugged it in and started to play the tape. As they counted the money, the tape started out talking about a family living on the outskirts of Beacon Hills who helped build the town up, but they remained at a distance because all of the children weren't human.

As they all three exchanged looks, they silently agreed the tape was probably talking about the Hale family.

After they finished counted the money they sat in silence waiting for tape to continue.

_After entering the IP address, you will be connected through a Darknet portal to an untraceable bank. Once logged in, enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer. You will be assigned a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember, visual confirmation is always required for payment._

As the tape finished the room was silent before Stiles asked, "You ever made a wire transfer?"

"Never had enough money." Scott replied.

Avery opened her mouth to speak, but didn't get the chance as Stiles sighed, "So you didn't understand a word of that either?"

"I don't understand any of this." He said shaking his head back and forth.

"I understand it." Avery finally got to speak as she raised her hand up in the air and smirked at the boys.

"Do you understand why someone would use all of this money to just kill us?" Scott asked as he looked at her with a confused expression.

"No, that I don't understand." She said, but as he started to agree she cut him off, "I understand paying to have one or two people killed if you hated them enough… but using all of this money to make a dead-pool, I don't get that."

Her eyes widened as she looked between Scott and Stiles when they stared at her.

"What?" She asked.

Scott shook his head at her and started to cram the money back into the bag as Stiles called you, "Hey, whoa, wait! What are you doing?"

"It's getting late, I work in the morning." He pointed out.

"That's five hundred thousand dollars, do you have any idea how much money that is?" He asked his best friend.

"It's five hundred thousand-" Scott began to repeat but Avery cut him, "It's half a million."

"Exactly!" Stiles agreed, "So Scott what are you going to do with it? You just going to hide it under your mattress?"

"I have to give it back to Derek, the money is his."

"Derek's and Peter's…" Stiles argued.

"Meaning what?" Scott questioned.

"It means maybe we proceed with caution."

Avery nodded in agreement with Stiles as Scott asked, "You don't think we should tell Derek?"

"No." Stiles answered then sighed as he stood up and continued, "No, of course we have to tell Derek. I'm just saying… some of that money is Peter's, right?"

"Yeah." Avery sighed as she also stood up and smoothed her short skirt down.

"Peter! Homicidal killer, remember? You want to give half a million dollars to him?" Stiles exclaimed as he looked to Scott.

Shrugging Scott asked, "So you're saying we should give Derek his part of the money back but not Peter's?"

"I didn't say that." His best friend quickly argued.

"Stiles, what are you saying?" Avery questioned, growing just as confused as Scott from all of the back and forth.

But he didn't answer.

"Want to know what I think?" Avery asked as she walked over to where she'd kicked her shoes off and started to pull her heels on.

"What?" Stiles and Scott asked her at the same time.

"If I'd found the money, I'd give Derek his half of it and claim that's all there was and I'd keep Peter's half of the money." She nonchalantly said.

Scott's mouth hung slightly open and she rolled her eyes as she continued, "Don't give me those judgmental looks, I'm only saying what Stiles kept hinting at but didn't have the balls to say."

"Hey!" Stiles exclaimed as he shook his head at her but didn't have any other argument.

"Look…" She said as she crossed the room and picked up a stack of hundreds from the open bag, "With this one stack of hundreds, Scott your mom wouldn't be sitting down at the table stressing over bills right now." Glancing to Stiles she continued, "Another stack of those hundreds and Eichen house is paid off."

Taking the money from her Scott put it back in the bag as he reminded her, "Not only is this money not ours to being with, but this is blood money. Garrett and Violet had this money because they took lives to get it."

Shrugging she picked her jacket up off the bed and said, "The money might not even really be Peter's to begin with. He said they're bearer bonds… those are what people use for money laundering and fraud. Chances are he didn't come by the money legally."

Scott stood up and kicked the bag under his bed and she said, "I never claimed to be a role model…"

"You're a bad influence." Stiles joked as he eyed the floor under the bed where Scott had kicked the bag.

Pausing at the doorway she said, "I think if you guys wanted someone to tell you –you needed to give the money back then you'd have called Teagan."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- I hope you guys all had a great Christmas and holiday season! I can't believe it's almost 2015!**

**Thanks to SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, Iris RainbowWolf, rapunzelrose13, BloomingBlueMoon85, Guest, ItJustBecca, and Lisette91 for reviewing the last chapter**


	28. Can I Embarrass You?

**Chapter Twenty Eight – "Can I Embarrass You?"**

* * *

><p>"Hey… what are you doing?" Derek groggily asked as he walked over next to the couch where Avery was sitting with her laptop.<p>

"Hey." She greeted quietly as she frowned and added, "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

"No." He assured her as he sat down next to her and glanced around his dark loft before focusing back on her and asking, "What are you still doing awake?"

"Just working on something." She vaguely answered.

With a sigh he said, "Lydia cracked the third list, right? So you should just come to bed and sleep, you can't let this take over your life."

She closed her eyes and pulled in a deep breath as she remembered the phone call from a very apologetic Lydia, explaining that the good news was they cracked the key to the third list. The bad news, however was that it was Derek's name who broke it; which meant one thing –he was dying.

"I know." She agreed, swallowing hard.

She hadn't told him about his name being the key, she wasn't sure how to even being that conversation and most importantly she didn't want him to lose hope.

"Then come to bed." He said with a small laugh as he started to take her computer but she pulled back and said, "I'm working on a school project."

But it was too late, he'd already seen the screen and asked, "A school project over ancient Aztec temples and rituals, huh?"

She frowned and watched as he shut the computer and dropped it on the coffee table and looked at her, for the first time noticing how completely worn down the blonde teen looked.

"What's going on?" He asked, but she didn't give an answer as she reached for her computer again but he stopped her as he took her hands and held them in his.

"I'm not tired, I'm just going to do a little more research until I fall asleep…" She tried to lie, but he cut her off as he pointed out, "You look like you're ready to crash already."

"Look…" He breathed, "Whatever this is that's going on with me, we'll figure it out. But right now, it can wait."

Swallowing hard she breathed, "What if it can't wait Derek?"

His eyebrows lowered in confusion as he stared at her and questioned, "What are you talking about?"

She shook her head back and forth, not ready to tell him about his name being the key yet. "It's just… everything is happening so fast now. There's all of these assassins and Scott's bitten someone, you're losing your werewolf powers and today I helped drive Meredith to kill herself."

Shaking his head he tried to assure her, "What Meredith did, it isn't on you."

"It is!" She loudly exclaimed pulling her hands away from his grip and standing up as she ran her fingers through her hair and said, "I was right there… I saw that broken look in her eyes, I saw how hopeless she was feeling and all I did was yell at her and push her farther!"

"You were trying to get information to save lives, Avery. She knew the code, like you said but she wasn't helping… anyone would have done the same thing." He tried to reason that anyone would have been frustrated enough to yell at Meredith.

"But that's just it, I'm not everyone else Derek. I've been there… that same place she was in her mind where everything is so dark that you can't find a light, okay? I know what it feels like to feel like death is the only way out, to be so completely swallowed up with guilt that you convince yourself you don't deserve to be saved. I have been there! And I should have seen it… I should have realized how close she was to breaking and I should have done something!" She yelled, her voice came out in broken sentences through gasps for air as she reached up and roughly pulled on the roots of her hair.

"Stop it." Derek yelled, trying to get her to calm down as he stepped closer, trying to hold onto her but she was too panicked as she pushed him back, but as she turned to walk away he grabbed onto her, pinning her arms over her chest to keep her from pulling at her hair as he said, "It's not your fault. She was sick… she was sick for a really long time, you didn't force her into doing this."

Tears streamed down her face as she argued, "But I didn't stop her either! I couldn't save her… she was on the list and I promised –I promised Scott that I'd help him, that no one else on that dead-pool would die and… then Meredith killed herself. And I didn't do anything!"

"You couldn't have!" Derek said in a strained voice as he continued to hold her arms down as she fought against him with everything she had. It was clear to him that through all of the stress she wasn't able to think clearly again.

"But maybe I can help Scott save everyone!" She shouted still fighting until another wave of tears broke free at the idea of losing Derek.

Whatever Kate had done to him, wasn't just weakening his wolf side –it was slowly killing him and at the rate of his senses failing him, she wasn't sure how much longer he had left.

Her legs went weak, and he carefully lowered them both to the floor as he pulled her shaking body back against him and she sobbed loudly, "If I work hard enough, than I can save you. I have to do something!"

"No, not if it's going to do this to you. You're still healing… you're still getting better and the last thing you need is to get yourself back into a mess." He softly and calmly said to her, his expression pained at how her behavior was reminding him of how bad she was before she tried to kill herself.

Finally taking in a few deep breaths she managed to pull herself back together some and he released his grip, just enough to let her turn sideways in his arms as she cuddled against him and said, "I have to do something… I have to fix this."

Wrapping his arms tighter around her, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and quietly said, "You can't fix everything and it's not all up to you. You're not alone."

Raising her head she looked at him with a few new tears sliding her face as she thought of how alone she'd be if she lost him, they hadn't been back together that long but already the idea of losing him was completely crippling.

"I'm here, and I'm not leaving… not again." He kept trying to assure her.

Nodding she watched him he raised his hands and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks as she asked in a trembling voice, "You promise you're not going anywhere?"

His eyes locked with hers and he got the feeling that there was more meaning to her question than he understood, but he meant what he'd told her.

"I'm right here." He nodded, leaning forward as he kissed her tear dampened salty lips, and pulled back before resting his forehead against hers and saying, "I promise, I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded, holding onto his muscled bare upper body as she closed her eyes and snuggled against him feeling a little calmer as his strong arms folded back around her and she whispered, "I love you."

With a soft smile, his arms tightened around her as he whispered back, "I love you too."

**~()~**

"How did you get free?" Isaac asked, curious. Wondering how she got out of the chair she was tied to.

"I pulled a staple from underneath the seat and cut the rope with that." Teagan explained.

"Damn." Isaac breathed out. He never would have thought of doing something like that. He smiled, as he laid his hand on the side of her neck, then said,"My girl is such a badass."

"It took me hours. I kept dropping the stupid staple and had to start over. That is hardly badass." Teagan pointed out.

"But you never gave up." Isaac said back, as he gave her lips a quick peek. "You kept trying, you always keep trying. That's what makes you a badass."

"Échouons, respirer, essayez à nouveau." Teagan softly said.

"What's that?" Isaac asked, curious what it meant.

"Fail, breathe, try again." Teagan answered. A small smile appeared on her face, as she said,"It's something Allison use to say while training us."

"I like that." Isaac said, as he nodded his head.

"Me too." Teagan said. "It helped me out a lot. Training never came that easy to me. I had to use that mantra a lot to get me through it."

"Say it again." Isaac said, as he ran his hands down her back, resting them on her backside.

"Why?" Teagan asked with a chuckle.

"Cause it's hot as hell when you speak french." Isaac said with a grin, as he pulled her closer to him.

"Échouons... respirer... essayez à nouveau." Teagan slowly said, as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Dites nouveau." Isaac said back.

"Say again." Teagan translated, as she raised her eyebrows in surprise. "I didn't know you could speak french."

"I had a class my freshman year. Didn't stick with it though." He explained.

"Oh. Well, I know what you mean now though. That was pretty hot." Teagan said, smiling. "Say something else."

"Uhh..." Isaac said, as he tried to think back to other words he learned back when he took the class. "Puis-je vous embarrasser?"

"No." Teagan answered, as she shook her head with a laugh.

"No?" Isaac asked, surprised she said no to his request. "Wait a minute, wait, what did I ask?" He questioned, making sure he had used the right words.

"You said 'Can I embarrass you'." Teagan translated, as she chuckled.

"Oh." He breathed out, as he laughed along with her. He scratched the side of his head, as he said,"I guess I didn't pay as much attention as I thought. I meant 'kiss' not 'embarrass'."

"Well in that case, oui." She said with a smile.

Isaac began to lean toward her, when his lips were inches from hers, he paused as he said,"Wait, that does mean 'yes', right?"

"Yes." Teagan said with a nod. She let out a chuckle as she closed the gap between them, pressing her lips against his.

In moments like this, they were able to forget the bad that happened earlier that night, until he went to cup her cheek hitting one of her bruises, causing her to pull back, as she whimpered out in pain.

"I'm sorry." Isaac softly said, as he lightly touched the area, hating that he hurt her.

"It's okay." Teagan whispered. "For a minute, I kind of forgot they were there."

"They shouldn't be there. This shouldn't have happened to you." Isaac said, as he continued to lightly touch her face, wishing he could take away every mark on her face.

"Does it make me a bad person that I'm glad he's dead?" Teagan questioned, referring to Garrett. Earlier when they spoke to Scott, he told them that both Garrett and Violet were dead.

Isaac shook his head, as he asked,"Does it make me a bad person if I wished I could have been the one who killed him?"

"No." Teagan quietly said, as she shook her head. "But, doesn't that make us exactly what they thought? Does that make us monsters?"

"He knocked you out, he took you and tied you up. He hurt you, he never should have laid a hand on you ever. He used you to get to me, so he can kill me and make money off of it. He was the monster, Teagan." Isaac stated. "And now he is gone and I'm thrilled about that. So if that makes me a monster too, then I'm a monster. Cause after what he did to you, death is exactly what he deserves. I just hope it was painful as hell."

"It's okay." Teagan whispered, as she rested her forehead against him when she saw he was getting angry. "I'm okay." She added, as she rested her hands on the back of his neck, running her fingers through his hair, trying to calm him down.

"He could have taken you from me." Isaac softly said, as he pulled back to look at her. "I only have one fear in my life, that's losing you. I don't even fear death, Teagan, I don't care what happens to me, but the thought of losing you, stops me in my tracks. My life means nothing if you're not in it."

"Good thing I'm not going anywhere then." Teagan said, as she gave him a smile. "It's you and me, Isaac. Always."

Isaac smiled at her words, as he gave her a gentle kiss, being careful of the cut on her lip. He pulled back to look at her, as he said,"I'm sorry, Teagan."

Teagan shook her head, as she said,"You don't have to keep apologizing for this, Isaac. None of this was your fault."

"I heard you this morning." He quietly admitted, as he lowered his head in shame. "I heard you when you came into my room, but I was still so pissed that I just acted like I was asleep. I didn't want to talk about the whole Liam thing again. I didn't want to deal with any of that, so I just let you go off on your own. And I-"

Before he could finished, she grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her before she pressed her lips against his to shut him up. He laid his hand on the back of her head, intertwining his fingers in her hair. He wished he could kiss her the way he really wanted to, but was worried about hurting her worst than she was, so he settled for a soft kiss, then rested his forehead against hers, just needing to have her close to him.

"It's okay." She whispered. She pulled back to look at him, as she added,"Besides, I had a feeling you were ignoring me anyways and I don't blame you. I didn't want to fight anymore either."

"Yeah, but I still should have got up with you. I should have listened to you, I should have apologized, I should have went with you. When I think about how much worst things could have been; how I could have lost you and never got to tell you I was sorry or how much I love you..." He blew out a breath, as he shook his head, not able to finish the thought. Instead he said,"I was an idiot. I screwed up, I'm sorry."

She shook her head, disagreeing with him and planned to tell him that wasn't true, but before she could say anything, he lowered his head as he softly said,"I dunno, maybe you would be better off with Liam."

"Whoa, wait, is that-is that what your problem with Liam is?" Teagan questioned, as she grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at her. "You think I'm interested in him? That you're going to lose me to him?"

Isaac shrugged as he said,"You're always running to him. Always worried about him, risking your life for him. Why do you even care?"

"Cause he's pack and he's just a kid, Isaac." She said, then added,"He's a kid who got pulled into a world he doesn't understand and I know how that is. I knew nothing of this world until Avery started dating Derek. Next thing I know, I'm walking into a video store and finding a dead body. That night my whole world changed." She paused for a moment, before continuing,"It's the same for Liam. One day he was just a freshman trying out for lacrosse, next thing he knows he's a werewolf and he never even asked for it. I kind of know how that feels."

"Don't get me wrong, I love this life... my life. And I love you and being with you and I would never trade it for anything, but I didn't choose this life. It chose me." She added.

"And I did." Isaac said. "When Derek asked me, I didn't even hesitate. I wanted that power, I was tired of being weak."

"And I know it was hard for you. To adjust to this new life." Teagan added. "But from the very beginning you had Derek to guide you. You had your pack and you-"

"I had you." Isaac interrupted, as he smiled at her. He carefully cupped her cheek, as he added,"You helped me a lot, probably more than you ever thought. You kept me grounded from the beginning. You kept me human. You were always my anchor."

"And I always will be." Teagan softly said, as she leaned forward to press her lips against his for a gentle kiss.

After getting lost in the kiss, she pulled her, lowering her eyebrows, as she said with a laugh,"So wait, what was I trying to say? Your lips distracted me and now I forgot everything I was going to say."

Isaac chuckled at her comment, giving her one more kiss, before saying,"It's okay. I actually do get what you're saying now."

"You do?" She questioned.

"Mm-hm." He said, as he nodded his head. "We're his pack and we need to help him. No one should have to deal with this alone."

Teagan let out a dramatic gasp, as she sarcastically said,"He gets it! He finally gets it." She chuckled at the playfully mean look he gave her, then said,"I'm kidding, babe. But I'm glad you do understand what I'm saying." She wrapped her arms around his neck, as she added,"Cause I swear to you, I feel nothing romantic toward Liam. It has never been about that. I just want to help him through all of this. That's it."

"He's into you though. You know that, right?"

"Why do you and Stiles think he's so into me?" Teagan asked with a laugh.

"I hear his heart racing." Isaac answered.

"And a racing heart always equals feelings?" She questioned, as she shot him a look, not believing it.

"When it is racing like that... yeah it does." Isaac answered. "And I know that cause..." He began to say. He laid a hand on the side of her neck, leaning toward her, as he softly said,"My heart does the same thing every time I am around you."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she laid her hands on his chest. One of them over his heart. She looked down at his lips for a moment, then looked up into his eyes, as she quietly asked,"Can you hear my heart right now? Do you hear it racing?"

As he nodded his head, she added,"It only does that for you. You are the only one that makes my heart race and my stomach flutter. You are the one who changed my life with one kiss. It's you, Isaac, only you and it'll always be you."

Isaac smiled, as he lowered his head, pressing his lips against her bare shoulder. He brushed the strap of her tank top aside, the light touch causing goosebumps to pop up on her skin. He kissed across her shoulder then placed his lips against the side of her neck. He took a deep breath, taking in her scent, before whispering out,"I love you."

"I love you, only you." Teagan said back with a smile, as she ran her fingers through his hair. She closed her eyes, blowing out a breath, as she realized how lucky they were. No matter what happened between them, they were still in each others arms, still stronger than ever. Moments like this made her believe they would always be okay, they made her think they could get through anything. In this moment, she could believe that nothing could ever tear them apart.

**~(A couple days later)~**

Avery's eyes popped open and shot up in her bed with a gasp, causing Teagan to fall back on the foot of the bed laughing at her reaction.

"Teagan! What is wrong with you?" Avery yelled as she reached behind her for a pillow and hit her best friend a few times while Teagan continued to laugh and block the hits.

"It's your birthday!" Teagan reminded her finally able to get the pillow from her friend as she said, "Don't you remember when we were kids and I'd always jump on your bed to wake you up in the morning?"

"Yeah, but that was when were kids and hated bedtimes cause we hated sleeping. Now I love sleeping." Avery argued but also laughed as she remembered growing up every year on her birthday Teagan's mom would bring her over first thing in the morning so Lisa could help Aleine decorate and get the party in order.

Avery scooted over and Teagan laid down beside her, pulling the blanket up on her as the girls faced each other and the brunette warmly said, "Happy birthday, A."

"Thanks T." Avery replied with a smile.

"So… where is the party going to be tonight?" Teagan asked.

Avery rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling as she shrugged and said, "Here I guess, my dad's still gone in San Francisco. I don't know… I guess I need to start figuring tonight out."

Raising up Teagan looked at her best friend with a shocked expression as she gasped, "You haven't already bought out a liquor store and booked a band or at least a dj?"

Shrugging again Avery sighed as she quietly admitted, "I don't really want a party this year… I mean I'm turning seventeen. There is nothing special about that."

It took the brunette a few moments to process what she was saying, before she asked, "A… if you don't want a party, what do you want to do for your birthday?"

"I don't even know." She sighed as she sat up farther in the bed and Teagan sighed at seeing her friend was sleeping in one of Derek's dark t-shirts. Her brown eyes drifted over the room where she saw some of Derek's clothes in her best friend's computer chair.

Closing her eyes, Teagan sighed, "Is Derek here? Are you hiding him in your closet again?"

Holding back a laugh Avery said, "No, T. He left late last night… and that was one time. Plus, I seem to recall you hiding Isaac to-"

Cutting her best friend off Teagan raised her eyebrows and asked, "Wow, so Derek came over… got what he wanted and left?"

"Teagan!" Avery exclaimed as anger flashed through her eyes.

Teagan looked back around the room, then her eyes slowly drifted back over to her friend's face as she asked, "I probably don't want to be in this bed right now do it?"

Pulling her bottom teeth between her lips, Avery held back a laugh causing Teagan to gasp and throw the blankets off she jumped out of the bed and covered her face with both hands, shaking her head back and forth.

Flopping back down on her back Avery laughed as she called out, "You probably don't want to touch the desk either…"

"Ugh!" Teagan exclaimed as she couldn't help but look over at the desk and shake her head.

"Actually…" Avery teased as she raised up on an elbow and proudly exclaimed, "If you're going to be that squeamish you probably really shouldn't touch anything in my room… or the coffee table in the second living room, or the couch there…"

"Oh my god, A! Stop it!" Teagan yelled louder as she put her hands over her ears and shook her head back and forth trying to delete the mental images she was getting.

Pushing the blanket off of her and standing up beside the bed, Avery added, "And if you're ever in Derek's loft… you shouldn't touch like anything. Like literally any usable surface…"

"Eww! Eww! Eww! What the hell are you guys, rabbits?" Teagan shouted as her face twisted into a disgusted expression.

Avery laughed at her friend's reaction and shrugged as she innocently peered at her best friend from under her naturally thick eyelashes and questioned, "What?"

"Don't bat those eyelashes at me! You are sick Avery Dukate!" The brunette accused as she pointed a finger at her.

"Don't even pretend like it's any different for you and Isaac. God knows I'm never eating anything cooked at your house again –not with the way you two are always getting freaky with food." Avery accused still laughing and appreciating the lighthearted mood and tone of their conversation. Something they didn't get to enjoy very often.

Teagan smiled and laughed as her cheeks flushed with the memories from all of her's and Isaac's naughty kitchen adventures. But beneath the smile was a small frown at how strained things had been between her and Isaac. They had their moments where things seemed great, sure. But mostly, nothing had really felt the same since they'd left Long Beach.

Swallowing and trying to push the thoughts and worries from her head, Teagan asked, "So what? Derek wished you happy birthday and then took off in the middle of the night?"

"Something like that." Avery quietly answered as she walked over and opened her closet to try and pick out clothes for the day.

Walking up behind her with her arms folded over her own chest, Teagan asked with a jolt of attitude, "He did tell you happy birthday, right?"

Glancing over her shoulder Avery shrugged, "It's not a big deal…"

"Yes it is a big deal!" Teagan exclaimed as she stared down to the carpet trying to hold her tongue, but finally she couldn't hold it anymore and she continued, "It's your birthday and he seriously couldn't be here with you today? On my birthday, Isaac surprised me with breakfast in bed and he gave me this bracelet that belonged to his mom..." She smiled widely as she remembered the story that went along with it.

"That's great… but this isn't Isaac, it's Derek." Avery dismissed, as she leaned down and looked through all of her designer shoes trying to find ones to go with the dress she'd chosen.

"He's at least taking you out for dinner at some point this weekend, right?" Teagan continued to push, growing more angry by the second at Derek for not being there when Avery obviously needed him to be.

"A…" She started to say when her best friend held her silence.

"It's okay." Avery quickly cut in, her tone cheerful and voice high pitched as she said, "This is Derek… he's not the go out to some fancy dinner type, but-"

"But nothing." Teagan dismissed rubbing her forehead as she angrily added, "So Derek doesn't do dinner? He apparently doesn't do birthdays for his girlfriend… does he do anything besides you?"

"Wow…" Avery breathed as she put her clothes in the bathroom and opened the linen closet to retrieve towels for her shower, "Someone not getting enough werewolf loving or what?"

Teagan sighed, "What happened to things being different this time? What happened to him being so different… and so much better to you?"

"He is!" she quickly defended with what she'd said since day one of their relationship, "You wouldn't hate him this bad if you could just see how he is with me."

Stepping into the bathroom with her, the brunette shook her head back and forth, "He's not here, A."

Teagan went back into her friend's room and sat down on the side of the bed as she dropped her head into her hands and sighed. She wasn't trying to bring her down and she could see how much Avery truly believed things were different this time, but to her all she could think was how much the heartbreak was going to be when he left again.

Looking over she saw her best friend's phone on the bedside table and she picked it up, before she was even sure what she was doing she'd called Derek's number and the phone was up to her ear. She held her breath, not even sure what she was going to say to werewolf –other than demanding that if he loved Avery the way he claimed too, he'd get his ass there and make sure she had one of the best birthdays ever.

But her anger was replaced with sadness when the phone only rang a few times before it went to voicemail, meaning he'd ignored the call. If she'd tried him from her own phone or anyone else's then she could have understood it. But for him to ignore a call from Avery's phone on her birthday.

This was it, she thought. This was one of the times where Derek was going to leave Avery's life a mess and Teagan would have to try and fix everything. Dropping the phone to the bed, the brunette decided that she'd do everything she could to keep her friend's mind off of him for the day.

A little while later, the blonde emerged from the bathroom looking flawless as always. She smiled at Teagan before sitting down on Derek's clothes in her computer chair and pulling her heels on.

"Maybe I should try calling him-" she started to say, but Teagan jumped up from the bed and said, "No, no way. Today is going to be a Derek-free day! I'm going to take you out for breakfast and then we'll figure something out to do until tonight when we're helping Liam. Afterwards, we'll figure it out from there… whether you want a party or not. This day is going to be amazing!"

Avery beamed a smile as she stepped forward and hugged her as she said, "Thanks, T. I love you, you're the best friend anyone could ask for."

Teagan smiled and tightly hugged her back, but then her eyes widened as she realized, "Oh! I brought you something."

"Ooh! What is it?" Avery gasped, with wide eyes as she stepped back from the hug and excitedly clapped her hands as she watched her friend leave her room.

"Well…" Teagan said poking her head back into the room, "I've been going through a lot of boxes and stuff at my house and I found a bunch of old pictures of us… so I put this together."

Walking back into her friend's room she displayed a black fabric bulletin board with glitter edged silver elastic bands across it holding the pictures in place.

Walking over Avery took the board from her friend a smile on her face as she looked over all of the pictures, most of them were pictures of the best friends growing up –including several with Lydia in them. But there were also some recent pictures scattered throughout the older ones, in the very center of the board was a picture of Allison, Lydia, Teagan and Avery.

With tears burning her eyes the blonde lightly ran her finger over the picture and swallowed hard, unable to say anything.

"Avery?" Teagan softly questioned when her friend remained silent and stared down to the board.

Walking over to her desk, Avery leaned the board against the wall before she turned around and looked at her friend with some tears running down her face as she said, "It's the best present ever… I love it."

Teagan's vision grew blurry as tears stun her eyes and she stepped forward, wrapping her friend in a hug; both girls fighting back tears as they thought of their late friend and how she should be there with them.

"I wish she was here." Avery hoarsely whispered out as she clutched onto Teagan even tighter.

More tears cascaded down Teagan's face as she agreed, "I know… everyone always says time heals everything, but sometimes I miss her so bad I'm not sure how I make it through the day."

Stepping back from the tearful embrace, Avery offered, "Maybe instead of a party… we could call Lydia and the three of us could just hang out."

"If that's what you want… but I know how you are with parties." Teagan exclaimed as she reached out and gently wiped the tears from her best friend's face, "We'll figure it out later, and we'll do whatever makes you happy; after everything you deserve an amazing birthday…. You deserve to be happy, A."

"Yeah, but…"

"Right now the only thing you need to worry about is what you're going to order for breakfast, it's your birthday." The brunette said, wiping her own tears with the backs of her hands.

Avery glanced behind her to the picture board on her desk and took in a deep breath as she continued to argue, but Teagan barely let her get a word in as she said, "Allison would want you to do what makes you happy, whether that's a night in or some raging party." Her chin quivered and she shook her head trying to hold back tears as she whispered, "She'd want us all to be happy."

The girls hugged once again, before she took her friend out for a birthday breakfast.

**~()~**

"Hmm." Avery hummed thoughtfully from the passenger seat of her best friend's car as Teagan drove them back towards her house, "If we do decide to throw a party… Liam's not invited."

"Avery!" Teagan exclaimed, "You can't save his life one week and then not even invite to your party the next. He's really not that bad, he's a good kid… just lost and trying to find his way in this world."

"But he's a freshman… I didn't even let freshman into my parties when I was one myself." She pointed out as she applied a coat of pale pink, shimmery lip gloss.

Teagan shook her head and laughed as she pulled onto her best friend's street and asked, "So there's going to be a party?"

"I still don't know." Avery said with a shrug then looked at her friend as she smiled and added, "Thank you for being here and getting my mind off of things."

As she parked her car in the driveway, the brunette said, "Hey, what are sisters for?"

They both laughed and started for the front door of the house but then both slowed to a stop and waited when the door started to open, both of them knew Avery's dad was out of town.

"Derek?" Avery gasped, surprised to see he was there.

Teagan looked around but didn't see his car and wondered what he was doing there, especially after ignoring his phone earlier that morning.

"What are you doing here?" The blonde asked clearly still surprised as he walked up to her.

Teagan diverted her eyes and let out a heavy sigh as Derek leaned down and kissed her best friend before pulling back and asking, "It's your birthday… why wouldn't I be here?"

"Maybe because you snuck out last night and then wouldn't answer your phone today…" Teagan breathed under her breath, but noticed neither of them heard her when Derek grabbed Avery's hand and started to pull her into the house.

Stubbornly, Teagan stood in place thinking this was typical Derek behavior. Finding some way to break Avery down and then swoop in like he was saving the day when really it had all been his fault to begin with.

Her mind continued to spin with angry thoughts at the werewolf, she'd planned a day of keeping Avery busy and happy and how he showed up ruined everything.

But her thoughts were cut short when she heard Avery let out a high pitched scream from inside of the house. Without hesitating for a second she raced into the house, leaving the door wide open behind her as she quickly located the couple; standing just inside of the garage –in the middle of a very heated kiss.

"Avery!" Teagan yelled, ruining the moment for them.

Separating herself from Derek, Avery stepped back and looked at her best friend with a wide smile as she asked, "What?"

Teagan's eyebrows lowered in confusion as she stared at her, knowing not even ten seconds ago she'd heard her scream.

Shooting Derek an irate look, the brunette demanded an answer as she hissed, "I heard her scream, what did you do?"

He rolled her eyes at her, and didn't answer as Avery let out another high pitched squeal and said, "He just made this the best birthday ever!"

The brunette looked back over to her friend, then she saw what had Avery so excited. Parked in the middle of the large garage was her friend's car. The sleek 1965 black Mustang that Avery had sold for the money to try and buy Derek back from the Calaveras.

As happy as she was for her friend, she was also a little confused as she asked, "What did you do, kill someone to get it back?"

"Teagan, stop." Avery pleaded not wanting her best friend and boyfriend to fight on her birthday.

"No, Teagan." Derek sighed heavily in irritation, "I didn't kill anyone."

"Avery's dad tried to get her car back… my dad even looked into it seeing if there was some sort of legal loophole we could use to get it back and none of us could. So tell me, how is it you managed to get the car?" Teagan continued to push, both of her hands were on her hips as she stared at him.

"It doesn't matter." Avery exclaimed as she looked back to her car with a loving look and added, "It must have cost you a fortune… but thank you."

She spun back around and grabbed Derek's face as she raised up and pressed a heated kiss to his lips before pulling back and saying, "Seriously, thank you so much. This is just amazing –you're amazing, and I love you."

Teagan rolled her eyes and looked away as she heard Derek mumbled an 'I love you too' into the kiss that Avery gave him as she held onto the back of his head and neck, leaning her body against him as his arms wrapped around her and he held her close against him.

"I'm going to wait outside…" Teagan said, as she watched them for a few seconds but when neither of them responded or even acknowledged her she sighed, "So whenever you come up for air… I'll be out there."

Several minutes Avery emerged from the house with a wide smile as she rushed up to her best friend, and Derek lingered by the front door watching them.

Despite her anger, Teagan managed a smile as she looked at her blonde best friend and said, "I'm glad you've got your car back."

Nodding she said, "I am too! And guess what?"

"What?"

"That's not the only thing he got me for my birthday, we're going out of town to spend some time away." Avery said excitedly bouncing as she spoke with animated hand movements.

"What? Why? For how long?" Teagan gasped, knowing Derek had a tendency to disappear from Beacon Hills for months at a time and the last thing she wanted or needed was her best friend disappearing along with him.

"Just for the weekend…" Avery answered with a slightly confused expression at her friend's reaction.

Teagan looked past Avery to where Derek was watching them with one of his signature creepy stares.

"Are you sure about this? We had great day planned, remember? A Derek-free day!" She reminded her.

"T, you asked me what I wanted for my birthday…" Avery said as she glanced over her should and saw Derek watching them, "This is what I want."

Her brown eyes moved back and forth as she searched her best friend's face and asked, "This is what you want? To go away with –him?"

"With my boyfriend." Avery corrected nodding, the smiled as she added in, "He's trying to do something nice… I told you things are different this time."

Teagan nodded and stepped forward, hugging her friend tightly as she shot Derek a look over Avery's shoulder and hoped he was listening as she said, "I hope you have fun… but it's going to take a lot more than some expensive gift and him taking you out of town to convince me that things are different."

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading! We'd hope you guys all have a great 2015!**

**Thanks to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Momsen-xxxx, xxxRena, SmellYourScentForMiles and to our good friend Exuberance of Youth for reading and reviewing chapter 27!**


	29. Some Nights

**Chapter Twenty Nine – Some Nights**

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><p>"Hey." Teagan called out to Scott and Liam, as she opened the car door and stepped out of the car. Scott had called her earlier that day, asking if she and Avery would meet up with him and Liam at Avery's old family house. He wanted to teach Liam some basic self-defense and figured they could teach him some of the things they learned from Allison, but since Avery left town with Derek; Teagan brought Isaac along to help, which was okay with Scott.<p>

"Why are they here?" Liam asked, as he turned to look at Scott, his eyes wide.

"Hey to you too, Liam." Isaac sarcastically said, as he exited the car.

"Teagan was trained by a hunter. She knows how they think, the type of moves they make. She can help you a lot." Scott said, answering the previous question. "It's okay, she was trained by the best." He added to reassure Liam. He glanced over at Teagan, shooting her a small smile, as they both thought about Allison.

Teagan smiled back at Scott, then turned her attention to Liam, as she asked,"Is there a reason I shouldn't be here?"

Liam glanced at her for a moment, then quickly looked away as he shook his head. It's not that he didn't want her help, he just hated seeing the marks on her face. The cut on her lip was almost healed, as was the one on her forehead. The bruises had even began to fade, but every mark on her face made him feel guilty. It was his fault that Garrett took her, it was his fault she got hurt. Everything was his fault.

"Liam?" Teagan quietly said, when he didn't say anything. She wrapped her arms around herself, as she added,"If you don't want me here I can leave."

Liam looked at her, then glanced at Isaac; who was a few steps behind her leaning against the car. He looked back at Teagan, as he said,"No, it's fine."

Teagan glanced behind her, looking at Isaac; who shrugged, as if to say he didn't do anything. He had no idea why Liam was acting the way he was. He walked up behind her, laying a hand on the small of her back, as he said,"So are we going in or what?"

"Yeah, I was just waiting on you two." Scott answered.

"You remember it's an abandoned house, right?" Teagan asked, as she smiled at the alpha.

"Yeah, right, but I just didn't want to barge in." Scott said, causing her to softly chuckle at how polite he was. He waited until Teagan and Isaac walked past, then he and Liam went in behind them.

Once everyone was in the house, Teagan asked Isaac to grab the large mats from one of the other rooms to lay out on the floor. She knew it wouldn't hurt any of the werewolves to be tossed on the hard floor, but just in case she was thrown down there needed to be some padding on the floor to break her fall.

Isaac tossed down a couple of mats, then got distracted when Teagan took her jacket off and began to stretch out. As she bent over, her butt facing him, he shot her a grin, as he asked,"Need some help?"

Teagan laughed as she stood up, then turned her head to look at him, as she said,"Yeah, you can continue to get the mats down."

Isaac chuckled along with her, as he walked up behind her, laying his hands on her hips. He leaned forward to kiss her cheek before whispering in her ear,"Or you can just bend over again and we can take advantage of these mats."

Teagan turned around to face him to wrap her arms around his neck, forgetting the other two were even in the house with them until Scott cleared his throat, letting them know they could hear them.

She glanced over her shoulder, seeing Scott and Liam were looking at anything but them. She felt her face heating up in embarrassment, knowing they heard what was said. She turned around, as she breathed out,"Sorry."

Isaac slapped her butt as he walked past her to grab more mats, causing her to hiss out his name, telling him to behave. He shot her a wink and laughed as he left the room.

Teagan turned her head back to look at Scott and Liam, as she asked,"Okay, are we ready?"

As Liam reluctantly nodded his head, she questioned him on what he might already know and learned he knew some basic self-defense, but not much. She called him over to the mat, then showed him a couple of moves that Allison taught her. With every move she showed him, she could tell he wasn't in to it. He would barely swing at her and would hardly touch her when she instructed him too. She didn't know what his problem was, but he acted like he couldn't stand to be around her.

"Okay, Liam, grab my arm here..." She began to say, as she held out her arm, instructing him to grab her in a certain place to show him how to take down someone when they grab your arm.

Liam reached out to grab her arm, then froze when he saw the marks on her wrist from when her hands were tied by Garrett. He already felt guilty enough with the bruises on her face, but seeing the other marks killed him. No one told him exactly what all Garrett did to her while she was taken, but any time he saw a new mark he imagined the worst. He wondered if she was still in any pain, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her worst while she was training him.

"Liam, are you okay?" Teagan questioned, when she saw the look on his face.

"Yeah, I just need a break." Liam lied.

"Okay, well, grab some water and while you do that, I'll get Isaac to step in and show you another move, okay?" Teagan suggested.

Liam nodded his head, as he stepped off the mat and walked over toward Scott and Isaac; who was leaning against a table against the wall. Teagan turned her head to look at her boyfriend, as she asked,"Want to help me?"

"I thought you would never ask." Isaac said, as he walked over toward her with a grin.

"Okay, Liam, this next move..." She began to say, but before she could finish, Isaac stopped in front of her and laid his hands on her sides. She squealed out in surprise, as he lifted her up and tossed her over his shoulders.

He turned around to face the other two, as he said,"This is the move you do when she gets too bossy. I call it the upside down T-Bag." As she called out his name, he laughed before adding,"She says she hates it, but secretly she loves it."

"I do hate it! And you're not helping, Isaac!" Teagan called out with a laugh, as she hit him in the back with her fist. "Put me down!"

"See, she really does love it." Isaac pointed out, as he bounced her on his shoulder causing her to mumble out cuss words toward him.

Scott shook his head, laughing at the couple, as a concern look appeared on Liam's face. He flashed back to when Garrett had knocked her out. He yelled at Garrett to leave her alone, but he ignored him, as he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder and carried her to his car. He wanted to get up and help her, but was in too much pain to move.

"Put her down." Liam stated.

"It's okay. Those curse words you hear are really her way of saying how much she loves it. She's fine." Isaac joked, as he slapped her butt, causing her to laugh and punch his back again.

"I said... Put her down!" Liam snapped, as he took a step toward Isaac, taking all of them by surprise.

"What the hell is your problem?" Isaac asked the younger beta, as he placed Teagan's feet back on the ground.

"What the hell is your problem?" Liam snapped back. "Do you have any idea what happened to her?"

"Are you kidding me?" Isaac questioned, as he stepped toward Liam and pushed him backwards."I'm the one who found her. I know exactly what happened. What the hell did you do to help?"

"Hey, Isaac, don't." Teagan said, as she stepped in front of the two boys. She saw the hurt look on Liam's face, then turned to look at her boyfriend, as she said,"Don't do this, okay. Just give me a minute, okay?"

Isaac looked over her head, shooting Liam a look, then turned around to walk out of the house. She turned to look at Scott and opened her mouth, but before she could say a word, he spoke up and said he would talk to Isaac, causing her to shot him a grateful smile.

Once he left the house, Teagan looked at Liam, as she asked,"Liam, what is going on? What was that about?"

"It's my fault." He softly said, as he looked down at the ground.

"What is?" She asked confused.

"He took you. He hit you and knocked you out, then he took you and I couldn't do anything about it." Liam said, starting to get angry with himself.

"Hey, Liam, it's not your-"

"Yes, it is!" Liam snapped, interrupting her, as he jerked his head up to look at her, his eyes flashing. "What's the point of all of this, all this strength and power if I can't help a friend? If all I can do is just sit there and watch him carry you away? What's the point if you're just going to get hurt anyways?"

"Hey, listen to me..." Teagan began to say, as she grabbed his shoulders, turning him to face her. "It is not your fault." She said slowly, trying to get through to him. "I should have been paying more attention. That is what Allison has always taught us, to take in your surrounding and I didn't do that. I let my guard down and he took advantage of that. But that is not your fault, it's not even my fault, it is his. He was the bad guy, Liam, he was the monster, but we're okay." She shot him a concern look, as she added,"I mean, you are okay, right? I know he hurt you too and If you need to talk I'm here, okay?"

Liam nodded his head, as he said,"At the time I was scared. I was scared about what he was going to do with you and scared if anyone would ever find me. I didn't know how much longer I had until the wolfsbane hit. Garrett said it could be minutes or hours and then I would be dead. He said there was a good chance that both of us would die."

"But you kept fighting, Liam. No matter what he said, you never gave up. You refused to let him beat you." She said, as she gave his shoulder a friendly squeeze. "We both kept fighting and we made it. We're okay. We are both going to be okay." She pointed out, as she gave him a soft smile.

Liam smiled back, then took her by surprise, as he stepped forward and hugged her. As she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back, he whispered out,"I'm sorry I couldn't save you, Teagan."

She pulled back to tell him it was okay, but before she could say a word, Scott and Isaac walked back inside; the latter spoke up and said,"Trust me, my girl is a badass, she doesn't need saving."

Teagan turned her head to look at him, giving him a smile, then turned back to look at Liam. She gave him another smile and a nod, as if to ask if he was okay now. He nodded his head back, telling her yeah, then looked over at Isaac, apologizing to him for snapping at him earlier.

**~()~**

The sun was setting as Avery and Derek walked out of the restaurant they'd eaten dinner at, it had been over an hour since they'd gotten into town and dropped their bags off at the hotel.

Feeling her phone buzz from her pocket again she came to a stop and pulled it out to see a few more texts from numbers she didn't even recognize asking what time the party was starting and where it was.

Seeing him looking at her she quickly blackened the screen and tucked it back in her pocket before he could read anything that had been sent to her.

"Everything okay?" He questioned with an arched brow.

Pulling in a deep breath she flashed him a smile and said, "Everything's fine."

"Who keeps calling you? Teagan?" He questioned.

"No… random people really, everyone was expecting a party tonight. You know my birthday is practically a national holiday." She said with a smile as she turned to face him, as she reached up resting her hands on his shoulders and leaned up to kiss him.

His hands rubbed down her sides, before he curled them around her and pulled her close. Breaking the kiss, he rested his forehead against hers and asked, "But you're happy with all of this… right?"

Smiling she nodded, "Yeah, I mean… there's a part of me that's going to miss throwing a party to show Lydia up." They both laughed as she continued, "But it doesn't matter, not really. I'd rather be here with you… doing normal couple things."

"Normal couple things?" He quietly asked as their faces were still just inches apart.

Nodding she slid her arms back farther on his shoulders and absentmindedly played the back of his hair as she explained, "Yeah, just doing normal things like going out to dinner and maybe seeing a movie or something… just being with you doing everyday things."

His eyes searched her face as he remembered back and slowly realized out loud, "We never really did any of that before, did we?"

"No… the only real date we went on was that first one and it was a complete disaster. Then you got arrested for murder and soon after Kate found you and you practically moved in with me. You were always having to stay in hiding… from the police or hunters. We never really got to be normal." She reminded him, their eyes locking as they spoke.

His gaze dropped from her eyes as he thought of how completely unfair to her that was, especially considering she was the type of person who loved to go out. And the whole time they'd been dating they'd pretty much lived out of her room.

"I'm sorry for that." He finally breathed, catching her off guard as her brows lowered in confusion and she asked, "What? Derek, it was a long time ago."

"Not all that long ago." He corrected, cutting her off, when she opened her mouth to argue he didn't give her a chance to speak as he continued, "And I am sorry. There was a lot of things I did –things that I put you through before and none of it was fair to you."

Smiling she nodded, "But it's okay, because you're here now."

"I am." He smiled, back capturing her lips in a passionate kiss before pulling back just enough to quietly add in, "And I'm not going anywhere, I was an idiot before and one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was not putting you first. I'm not going to do that again."

He started to kiss her again, but she pulled back slightly as she quietly asked, "And why is that?"

With a small chuckle he answered, "You know why."

"But I want to hear you say it." She whispered, her eyes sparkling in the setting sun and the streetlight over them as she stared at him.

Moving his hands from her sides, he tucked some of her hair behind her ear as he took her face in his hands and admitted, "Because I love you."

Her heart skipped a few beats and her stomach fluttered with excitement, every time he said those three little words to her it felt just like the first time all over again. As he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers, she smiled into the kiss finally allowing herself to just be happy for those few seconds.

In that moment with him, she wasn't worried about the dead-pool or the fact that he was losing his power and possibly slowly dying. All she was aware of was the feeling of being in his arms and the taste of his mouth, along with her heart racing inside of her chest. Pulling back slightly she rested her arms back on his shoulders, keeping her body pressed against his as she asked, "So… what are our plans now?"

Keeping his hands on her hips he glanced up towards the quickly darkening sky with a thoughtful expressions before blowing out a breath and answering, "It's your birthday… you pick."

Smiling she raised up kissing him again before she shrugged and said, "Let's just walk for now."

"I got you your car back and you want to walk?" His eyes searched her face and he smiled at seeing how happy she looked, as she turned to walk away he gently reached down –grabbing onto her hand as he laced their fingers and walked by her side.

Biting down on the side of her bottom lip she glanced down to their hands and shook her head back and forth as even the simple gesture already had her stomach fluttering. It seemed silly, that something as simple as being able to walk down the sidewalk hand in hand with her boyfriend would mean so much.

But for her it did, when they were together he'd spent almost every moment on the run from police or hiding from the hunters. Even after they thought Kate was dead, things didn't settle down –Gerard Argent had come to their town seeking revenge and retribution.

So being able to just enjoy time alone with him –every moment since they'd arrived in town had meant everything to her. From holding hands while they walked, to kissing on the side of the road, even being able to go out to dinner together –all of these normal couple things that they'd never gotten to do before was making her already dread the idea of returning to Beacon Hills.

She wasn't sure how long they'd been walking, just lazily roaming the streets of the city talking about anything and everything –all of her attention completely focused on him until she heard it. The deep thudding beat of music from a nearby club and as happy as she was for a quiet birthday away with Derek, a part of her still wanted a party.

As they turned left onto another street the sound of the music got louder, and once she saw the building with a neon light sign and the doors open, letting the music flood out of the club she stopped walking.

He started to ask if she was okay but she faced him as she asked with a coy smile, "It's my birthday… so I get to make the plans, right?"

Shooting her a confused look he began to ask what she was hinting at –until he saw her attention being drawn to the club and he immediately shook his head back and forth.

"Come on…" She pleaded tugging on his hand as she tried to walk towards the club, "Dance with me!"

"You really want to go in there?" He sighed, clearly not on board with the idea.

"Don't you?" She asked, her eyes wide and alive with excitement.

He shook his head back and forth.

"Come on!" She exclaimed, "If you'd just go into a club, I'm sure you'd love it. The music and the energy of it… it's electric!"

"I have been in a club before." He said, causing her to roll her eyes as she argued, "Following Jackson as the kanima into a gay club to kill him, doesn't count."

"I wasn't talking about that. Years ago when I left Beacon Hills after the fire, I moved to New York and-"

She didn't let him finish talking as she let out a small squeal, "I've been to New York a few times, in fact freshman year I went with Jackson's family… there was some kind of law association convention or something, but I just remember everything being so fast paced and I loved it!"

His eyes were glued to her as she talked, a smile on his lips the whole time. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen her so happy or carefree.

"Long story short, by the time we got back to Beacon Hills we'd decided that after we graduated we were going to move there and get a nice apartment. He's getting a huge payout when he turns 18 from the accident that killed his biological mom and I have trusts that I get access to as well when I turn 18." She continued to ramble on, until he stopped her and asked surprised. "You were going to move to New York City… with Jackson?"

"I know, right? Terrible idea… we'd probably end up killing each other, but at the time it sounded good. Until he and Lydia got into a fight and she refused to move with us, and I couldn't talk Teagan into it over the phone either. The whole plan fell apart, but we were serious about it for a while."

He caught the glimmer of sadness in her eyes as she looked down to the sidewalk and shook her head, every trace of her happiness seemingly gone with the end of the story.

"What's wrong?" Derek asked, as he stepped closer and leaned down trying to see her face.

"It just feels like that was so long ago… when really it was only a few years ago. Sometimes, I don't know… I guess I just forget how different my life used to be before all of this werewolf stuff." Avery quietly admitted with a shrug, "I was a different person back then."

He was quiet for a moment before he asked, "If you could go back and change it, go back in time and never find out about any of this supernatural stuff, would you?"

Her eyes moved back and forth as she looked over his face before her eyes locked with his and she said, "No. Because if I didn't know about any of this stuff… then I wouldn't be here with you right now, and this –being here with you is everything. But it's more than that too, I wouldn't have ever been friends with Scott and Stiles… this world as crazy as it is, it also gives my life purpose. I help people now. I've saved lives and even though I'm a million more times damaged than I was before all of this… I like this Avery better."

When she raised her head and looked back up she saw he was staring at her with an unreadable look on his face. Her eyebrows raised in question at why he was looking at her like that, in response he continued to look her in the eyes as he pointed out, "I love you… just the way you are."

She smiled, but he could tell she still wasn't having as much fun as she had been earlier before she'd brought herself down by thinking how different she was now.

"You want to go back to the hotel?" He softly asked.

She nodded and he started to lead her away until her attention was drawn back to the nightclub and she paused with a longing look in her eyes, also coming to a stop Derek looked back and said, "Look at that line, by the time we got inside the place would be shutting down."

Glancing behind her to where there was a long line people waiting outside of the club to show their ID's to the bouncer and gain entrance, she playfully raised an eyebrow as she said, "You can intimidate the guy, or I can hike this dress up some… either way it's not like we'd have to wait in the line."

"Avery…"

Rolling her eyes she crossed her arms over her chest and sighed, "Fine… let's just go see a movie or something then. But I'm not ready to go back to the hotel yet."

**~()~**

Now that everyone had talked and cleared the air, Teagan got back to work, showing Liam a few more moves, mostly how to toss an opponent as they rushed toward you to attack. But after tossing him around for the next hour, he was done.

"Seriously? You're done?" Teagan asked with a laugh, as she looked over at the younger boy. "I had a few more moves to show you."

"I'm done. One of the others can step in." Liam said in between breaths, as he nodded over toward Scott and Isaac.

Teagan turned her attention to Scott, as she questioned,"Well, Scott.. You want to go a round?"

"No, I'm good." Scott said, as he held up his hands. After seeing her tossing Liam around, he was kind of scared of her now. He knew Allison had trained her and figured she would be good since he knew how good Allison was, but after seeing her in action, he vowed to never mess with her or Avery.

"Isaac?" She questioned, as she looked at her boyfriend. "Feel like getting your ass kicked by your girlfriend?" She teased.

"I can take you, babe." Isaac said confidently, as he walked over toward her.

The two went back and forth a few times sparring, then Isaac began to charge toward her, trying to catch her off guard, but she was ready for him each time and easily tossed him on to the mat, like she did to Liam earlier.

Once Scott and Liam began to clap for her, she turned to face them, and bowed with a chuckle on her lips. With her back turned, Isaac quickly stood up and come behind her, wrapping his arms around her in a bear hug.

Teagan quickly grabbed his arms, then dropped her weight and reaching behind her to grab the side of his neck, before leaning forward more and tossing him over her shoulders and on to the mat.

"Ow! Damn. Did not see that coming." Isaac said, as he laid flat on his back.

Teagan stood above him, her legs on either side of him, as she gloated,"That is what you get for trying to cheat and sneak up on me."

"Are you really celebrating my pain?" Isaac questioned.

"You are not hurt." Teagan said with a laugh, as she playfully rolled her eyes.

"Not true. You did toss my a little too hard and I fell on my elbow wrong." Isaac said, as his lowered his eyebrows in pain.

"Oh, my God! Babe, I'm so-" She began to say, as she leaned over to check out his arm, feeling bad that she hurt him.

Before she could finish her apology, Isaac wrapped his arms around her legs and pulled her down toward him. She landed on top of him with gasp, then felt him roll them over. She was now tucked under him with her arms over her head as he had her pinned to the floor.

"You cheated again!" Teagan called out with a laugh.

"But I won." Isaac said with a grin, as he leaned toward her to press his lips against hers for a quick kiss.

"It's a cheat win." Teagan mumbled against his lips.

"What was that?" Isaac teased, as he began to tickle her side, causing her to laugh out loud and try to wiggle away from him.

"Okay! I think that is enough training today." Scott called out, getting their attention. He had a feeling where things were going between them and, he for one, did not need to see that.

"Yeah, it's getting kind of late." Teagan said, as Isaac rolled off of her, laying flat on his back on the mat to catch his breath. She stood up from the floor, as she added,"We can get together again soon and have another session."

"Okay," Liam said, as he nodded his head.

"Maybe next time Avery will actually show up." Teagan said a little harsher than she meant. She was still a little annoyed that she canceled their plans to go out-of-town with Derek. She looked over at Liam, as she added in a nicer tone,"Maybe next time we can do some two on one fighting and show you ways to escape that."

As Liam nodded his head at her suggestion, she flashed him a smile, as she tried to pretend like nothing was bothering her. The others didn't really notice, but Isaac did. He could always tell when something was bothering her and now was no different, but before he could question her, Scott spoke up,"Hey, speaking of Avery, what time is the party tonight?" Like everyone else, he assumed she would be having a huge Avery Dukate party for her birthday.

"Apparently there is no party this year." Teagan said with a hint of attitude, as she turned away from the others to grab her water bottle from the table, taking a big swallow. It's not that she was hoping for some big blow out this year, she just wanted her best friend to be happy, and she felt like after everything that happened, being surrounded by her closest friends was what Avery needed. But instead she was off alone with Derek, she just hoped he didn't do anything to ruin Avery's special day.

"You're joking, right?" Isaac questioned, as he looked over at his girlfriend; who still had her back toward him and the other two. "She's had a party every year. Her birthday is basically a national holiday and she makes sure everyone knows it. Her birthday party is always like homecoming mixed with Coachella. Not that I've ever been to one of her birthday parties, but I always heard it was the biggest bash out of all her other parties."

"Wait, is she the one who threw a black light party for Halloween?" Liam questioned. "We all heard about that at Devenford Prep."

"Yeah that was a Avery Dukate party." Scott said.

"But it wasn't for Halloween." Isaac corrected, as he nodded his head over toward Teagan.

"It was my birthday." Teagan continued, as she finally turned around to face them.

"Your birthday is on Halloween?" Liam questioned. As Teagan nodded her head, he added,"Weird. I could see Avery being born on Halloween, but not you."

"She always said it was my day, not Halloween." Teagan said, as she smiled at the memory. "One year she kept calling it Teagoween. I begged her to stop." She added with a laugh.

Scott laughed out loud, as he said,"I actually remember that. She walked into class and yelled out 'Happy Teagoween'. None of us knew what it meant, but we went around saying it all day since she did."

"I remember that too." Isaac said, as he smiled at his girlfriend. "I had a feeling it was about you and your birthday. I tried to work up the nerve to actually walk up to you and say it or at least say happy birthday, but all I could get out was 'hi' then you looked me with those eyes and I had to run away."

"You were such a dork, but I love you." Teagan teased, as she shot him a smile, causing him to wink at her.

"I heard some freshman talking about some of Avery's parties. I'm surprised she's not having one." Liam spoke up.

"Me too." Isaac said, agreeing. "Hey, do you remember one year, she had a party for 24 hours and had a new band for each hour?" He questioned them. The party had taken place while Teagan was gone, but Avery had told her all about it.

"I remember that." Scott said. "Me and Stiles wanted to go so bad. Some of our favorite bands were going to be there, but we got turned away."

"Did she have bouncers or something?" Liam questioned.

"Yes, huge ones." Scott answered, as his eyes widen when he thought about the big guys that refused to let him and Stiles in that night.

"Well, you don't have to worry about being turned away this year, cause there is no party." Teagan stated, as grabbed her jacket and angrily slipped it on.

"If she's not having a party, what is she doing? Maybe we could all get together and hang out or something." Scott suggested.

Teagan let out a small sigh, as she glanced down at the bottle of water in her hand. In her opinion that would have been a great idea, but did anyone ever listen to her? Nope.

She lifted her head to look at Scott, as she vaguely said,"She's got plans." It's not that she was trying to be difficult and avoid the question, she just didn't want to talk about it. If Scott was anything like Isaac, he wouldn't see anything wrong with Avery and Derek giving it another try and she didn't feel like having everyone ganging up against her for being against it. The others weren't there to see all the lows, all the times Derek hurt Avery, but she did. She saw it all and she did not forget.

"Teagan, what is going on?" Isaac questioned, as he looked at his girlfriend, knowing she was hiding something.

"Nothing!" Teagan snapped. When she saw the look on his face, she reached out to lay a hand on his arm, quietly apologizing for snapping at him. She turned back to look at Scott, as she gave a small shrug, before softly said,"She's out-of-town. That's all I know."

She blew a small sigh of relief when Scott nodded his head, accepting her answer. She avoided looking at Isaac, worried he would be able to see through her lie, but without even looking, he knew she wasn't being truthful, he knew her too well. He just couldn't figure out why she was lying to him. He thought they were past lying to each other.

He folded his arms across his chest, silently watching her as she spoke to Liam and Scott a little longer until they walked out of the house. She turned to look at Isaac, flashing him a small smile, as she asked him if he was ready to leave.

He nodded his head, but didn't say anything, as he began to walk along behind her. He didn't know what she was hiding, but he was going to find out. If she was keeping one thing from him, what else could she be keeping? What could be so bad that she couldn't tell him?

**~()~**

Lowering his head in defeat, Derek reached out grabbing her hand as he checked the street before pulling across it, heading right for an alley than ran along the side of the club.

"What are you doing?" Avery questioned as she fought a smile as they came to a stop by a side door.

Glancing up at her, he simply replied, "Not waiting in line."

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth she watched as he easily broken the lock the on the door and opened it for them, as they both headed inside he accidentally let the door slam behind them. "Derek!" Avery hissed as she noticed one of nearby security guys look over in their direction, "Sneaking in does no good if we're gonna be tossed back out!"

She barely got her sentence out before he curled an arm around her and said in her ear, "They're not going to kick us out, we just need to blend."

"Blend? You don't even want to be in here-" She protested but her words caught in her throat as he backed them against the wall and before she could react his mouth was on hers. Successfully silencing any other argument she had.

Softly, she moaned into his mouth as she reached between them and grabbed onto the waistband of his jeans as she pulled him against her and easily matched the aggressiveness of his actions.

"See?" He breathed out against her still dampened lips, "Blending."

Quickly leaning back in she kissed him again, before pulling back with his bottom lip trapped between her teeth, causing his fingers to dig into her sides as he held onto her. Finally letting go, her sweet breath tickled his senses as she breathed, "I think I have a better way for us to blend…"

His eyes barely moved from her lips as he raised his eyebrows and asked, "What's that?"

Smirking at knowing what he thought she was going to say, she leaned back towards him like she was going to kiss him, but paused just shy of putting her lips to his as she said, "Dancing!"

He hung his head and groaned as she laughed and patted his chest with both hands and repeated, "I wanted to come in here to dance."

Several minutes later Avery was weaving her way through the crowded dance club, and the mess of tangled bodies on the dance floor, until she came to as stop when she realized Derek hadn't followed her. Shaking her head back and forth she looked around with a slightly hopeful expression wondering if he'd came after her but she didn't see him anywhere.

Her eyes drifted over towards the bar and for a moment she almost went over there but then she stopped herself. She'd came in there to have a good time and if she got near that bar she'd not be able to stop and the last time she wanted to do was end her birthday as a drunken mess.

Taking a deep breath she focused on the beat of the music, feeling the thudding of the bass in her chest and she slowly started to swing her hips along with the music. After a few minutes the stress of the night slowly started to fade as she moved her body with the music, turning away from and ignoring any guy who tried to dance with her.

Finally the longer she danced amongst the crowd of Saturday night club goers, the more the temptation to drink melted away and she started to consider she needed to get out of the club and figure out where he went.

But as she lifted her hair up off her neck, still moving her body to the beat of the music she looked over and saw Derek standing close by, just watching her.

She laughed and shook her head, thinking how out of place he looked just standing there while everyone around him was dancing. Trying to ignore the feeling of being so closely watched, she continued to move along with the music.

But when she saw people around slowly starting to back away she yelled over the music, "Derek, dance or something!"

He shook his head back and forth as he yelled back, "We came in here for you… not me."

Avery bit down on the inside of her cheek and held back a laugh as she explained, "You can't just stand there and at watch me… you look like a total creep and you're scaring people."

He glanced around, noticing for the first time that he was drawing some attention but he didn't care. He'd only went in there for her and he was content just standing off to the side and keeping a protective eye on her.

"Dance with me!" She yelled loudly as she flashed him a flirtatious smile.

Glancing around at the crowd he shook his head and pointed out, "I don't dance."

"You're seriously just going to stand there and watch me?" She asked, still moving her body along with the music.

"I like watching you." He countered with a stubborn expression that made her laugh as she shook her head and him and turned back around. Finally not able to stand the feeling of being watched any longer and seeing more people starting to look at Derek with slightly frightened expressions, Avery looked over her shoulder and said, "Come on! It's my birthday…"

Looking around he tucked his hands in his pockets as he yelled, "I don't-" His voice and breath halted in his throat as she backed her body up against his, causing him to let out a groan and grab onto her hips as she danced to the music, rubbing her butt against his most sensitive area.

"Avery-" He began to say but she cut him off as she looked over her shoulder, shooting him a flirty smile as she moved her body against his and said, "I don't want to talk, or have you stand there and stare at me."

He stubbornly shook his head, trying to ignore the effect her body rubbing against his was having on him as he argued, "This isn't going to work…"

With a sultry smile, she turned and glanced down between them as she raised an eyebrow and pointed out, "Well…something's working." He opened his mouth to say something but she didn't let him get a word in as she grabbed his face and pulled it down to hers, pressing a heated, passionate kiss to his lips.

A part of her was always worried that she might need him more then he needed her, and as much as she was trying to not think about it –she couldn't just pretend his name wasn't the third cypher key. With that thought she kissed him harder, urgency in her movements as she pressed her body against his. Just needing to know that he was okay, that somehow they could find a way out of this mess and that he'd be okay.

Pulling back from the kiss, both of their breathing was labored as stared at each other and any negative emotions they'd been feeling quickly evolving into something else the longer they stared at each other in the middle of the crowded dance floor.

His fingers tangled in her hair as he brought her face back to his, claiming her lips in a kiss that sent her stomach jumping with excitement and goosebumps pepper her skin as he finally started to move his body along with hers to the beat of the music.

Both of them so entirely absorbed in the other that the rest of the crowd melted away for them and the only thing in the world they were aware of was the other.

Even with some of the doors to the building now propped open for the cool night air, the temperature kept rising inside. Not that she was complaining as she glanced down seeing his t-shirt starting to cling to muscles as they continued to dance with each other –their bodies pressed tightly together.

Running her hands up his chest she thought to herself that she was sure he'd never looked better, with that thought she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and peered up to him –seeing his eyes were still glued to her.

It wasn't long before their mouths were joined again, his hands rubbing over her body causing her fingers tips to dig into his upper arms as she softly moaned into his mouth. The sound made his body tense as he pulled back, breaking the kiss and resting his forehead against hers. His eyes searched her face, seeing her flushed cheeks before their eyes locked in a lustful gaze –both of them thinking they'd never wanted anything more than they wanted each other in the moment.

Running his tongue over his lips all he could taste was the sweetness of her mouth, blowing out a ragged breath he leaned in near her ear as he offered, "We should get out of here."

The second his humid breath rushed over the side of her face and ear her heart started to race even faster and it took a few moments before she was able to process what he said to her. She nodded in agreement, smiling as he leaned down kissing her once again before grabbed onto her hand and led them both towards an exit.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading! Miss E Charlotte and I always thought it was kind of funny that on Teagan's birthday ended up with a huge party and on Avery's birthday she just went out of town for the weekend –you'd really think with their personalities that it would have been reversed. But it just sort of happened the other way around! ^_^**

**We owe an extra special thank you to Momsen-xxxx, xxxRena, 19irene96, DancingDorisDay, ILoveSameClafin'x, and our lovely friend Iris RainbowWolf for reading and reviewing chapter 28!**


	30. Volatile Times

**Chapter Thirty – Volatile Times**

* * *

><p>After a slight struggle with the key card Derek finally got the door open to their room as he and Avery rushed inside. The card fell to the floor and door was barely shut before their mouths were joined and their arms tangled around each other.<p>

The walk from the club back to the hotel was a blur for them both, the entire way back they couldn't keep their hands off of each other.

Immediately her heart started to race wildly in her chest at the feeling of his lips on hers, the familiar taste of his mouth. Pulling back she stared at him, her eyes lustful and her soft, pink lips still parted; she couldn't remember ever feeling like she needed something more than she needed him in that moment

His breathing was already just as ragged as hers was; the desire she had for him was radiating off her and every little thing she did from the way she looked at him, to all of the soft noises she made while his hands rubbed over her clothed body was driving him crazy and making his pants feel painfully tight.

Managing to get her shoes quickly kicked off, she also dropped her jacket to the floor.

Their eyes locked for a moment before she forcefully, pulled his face back down to hers, she raised up on her bare feet to deepen the kiss, as her hands moved under his sweat dampened shirt and she ran her nails over his muscled stomach. In response, he groaned loudly against her parted lips and reached between them grabbing onto shirt and only breaking the passionate kiss long enough to pull it off over his head.

A mix between a gasp and a moan slid from her lips as he roughly grabbed a handful of her wavy blonde hair and pulled back, forcing her head along with it and leaving her neck exposed and vulnerable as he bowed his head and his mouth left a searing hot trail over her sensitive flesh.

When his teeth grazed over her collarbone, her brows furrowed in a mix of pain and pleasure as her breath rushed out and her hands landed on his shoulders; fingertips digging in as she desperately clutched onto him incase her legs buckled beneath her. And with the effect his every touch and kiss had on her, there was a possibility her legs could give out at any second.

Once his mouth reclaimed hers; her hands roamed over his bare upper body then she drug her nails over his flesh until she found the waistband of his jeans. Before she could get them unbuttoned he captured her hands in his, causing her to pull back from their kiss with a pouty expression on her lips until he pressed another heated, passionate kiss to her hungry lips and spun her around until she was facing the wall.

Placing her palms flat against the wallpaper, she leaned her head forward against as she bit down on her bottom lip to hold in a moan as he brushed her hair out of the way and kissed his way from her neck over to her shoulder.

She raised her head and looked to the side as he placed his hands on hers, his palms against the back of her hands as his fingers found their way between hers and she smiled. With a gasp she fell forward, her body pressed against the wall as her fingers closed with his and she clutched onto his hands breathing heavily through the pain as he bit down near her shoulder blade.

"Derek…" She breathed out, in an airy, helpless tone as she tried to push back from the wall to press her body closer to his, needing to feel him flesh on hers. But with the way he had her hands pinned she couldn't.

Her grip tightened on his hands as he ravenously kissed back up to her neck and heavily breathed out against her ear, "What?"

"You know what!" She exclaimed, her breath still emerging in fits and gasps.

He smiled against the side of her face, knowing exactly what that helpless tone meant. She couldn't take anymore and neither could he. Letting go of her hands she started to turn around but he stopped he looked at the zipper on her skimpy black dress and tried to pull it down, needing to see her body; to feel her skin against his with her legs wrapped around him, but it wouldn't budge. His eyebrows pushed together in frustration, not understanding how such a tiny delicate zipper could be putting up a fight. And he didn't care, all he knew was that he wanted that dress off of her.

With that thought he focused his mouth on her neck again, before causing her to gasp as he leaned back grasping tightly onto the fabric next to the zipper and used his werewolf strength to easily rip the fabric off of her.

"Derek!" She squealed as she turned and faced him, "You can't keep ripping all of my clothes!" She protested, her still damp lips fuller than usual in a pout as she glanced down to the shredded remains of the expensive dress.

"The zipper was stuck." He defended with a small laugh at her expression, running his hands over down her sides as his eyes focused on her nearly bare body still clad in a matching bra and underwear set.

She looked up at him, her cheeks flushed with desire for him as she started to open her mouth and he knew she was going to keep arguing about the dress.

Silencing her with a kiss, he pulled back and breathed, "The zipper was stuck. Would you rather have the dress… or me?"

Her lips curved up into a smile, brushing against his lips as he hovered right in front of her face breathing in her sweet breath as she admitted, "You… always you."

"Then stop complaining." He breathed out, before claiming her lips in another kiss as their arms tangled around each other and they made their way over to the bed.

Pulling back from kiss, she ran her hands over the light coating of hair on his chest and blew out a heavy breathed as her eyes traveled over his half bare body when he opened his mouth to say something, "Just stop talking…" She breathed with a soft laugh, her voice low in a sultry tone as she pushed him back onto the bed and climbed on top of him, a leg on either side as she straddled him; her messy hair falling wildly around their faces as she leaned over him and pressed her mouth back to his

**~()~**

"Hey, dad, you home?" Teagan called out, as she and Isaac walked into the house. They were greeted by a happy Aspen, then heard her father calling out from the kitchen.

Teagan petted the white dog, as he walked along beside her, while she and Isaac headed for the kitchen.

"Hey, Sweet Tea." Paul greeted, as she walked into the room. He nodded his head to Isaac, giving him a friendly greeting as well. "I was about to call in some dinner. Any suggestions?"

"Chinese." Teagan said, listing her favorite take out food.

"Anything but Chinese." Paul said back with a laugh. If it was up to her they would have it every night for dinner. He glanced over at Isaac, as he said,"Come on, Isaac, help me out here."

"Uh, how about Mexican?" Isaac suggested.

Paul nodded his head, as he thought about it, then said,"It has been awhile since we had Mexican."

"Fine. We can have Mexican since you two are ganging up on me." Teagan said with a laugh. She looked over at her boyfriend, expecting him to laugh along with her, but he didn't even crack a smile.

After giving Paul their order, he called it in, then told them he was leaving to go pick it up. He had to run by his office and pick up a file, then would swing by to grab the food and come home.

Once Paul was gone, Teagan turned to look at Isaac, taking a few steps toward him and wrapped her arms around her neck. "So what do you want to do until he gets back? Maybe watch a movie?" She flashed him a teasing smile, as she added,"Or we can train some more."

Isaac reached back to grab her hands, removing them from his neck, as he said,"I'm going to take a shower. Get cleaned up before dinner."

"Oh." Teagan breathed out. "Well, do you want-"

Before she could finish asking him if he wanted company, he gave her a quick kiss, before saying,"I'll be back."

Teagan lowered her eyebrows in confusion as he walked out of the room and made his way upstairs. She glanced down to Aspen; who was sitting by her feet. "Is it something I said?" She quietly asked the dog, as she wondered what made Isaac's mood turn. Earlier at the house he was in a joking mood and things were good, but now it was like he couldn't get away form her fast enough.

"I should talk to him, right?" She asked Aspen; who gave out a bark to answer. She nodded her head, as she quietly added,"I'm going to talk to him."

Before leaving the kitchen, she grabbed a jar from the counter, taking out a dog treat and gave it to Aspen, thanking him for his help, before walking out of the room. She made her way upstairs and to the spare bathroom, hearing the shower running.

Knowing his showers didn't usually last that long, she went into the spare bedroom that he slept in to wait on him. She had only been waiting for a few minutes, when he opened the door and walked in. He was in the middle of slipping a clean t-shirt over his head, when he came to a quick stop, surprised to see her sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Jeez, Teagan, you scared the shit out of me." He stated. "What are you doing in here?"

"Well, I was going to join you for your shower but you left the kitchen so fast I didn't get a chance to suggest it." Teagan answered, as she stood up. "So I decided to wait for you in here."

"I'm sorry, I just- I wanted to get in a quick shower before your dad got back with dinner." Isaac said, as he turned away from her.

"Dad is going by the office, that is at least a twenty minute drive, then he'll be there at least another twenty looking for the file, then he still has to grab the food and come back home. I'm betting it'll at least be an hour before he is back." Teagan pointed out.

"Oh." He breathed out, as he grabbed a few of his dirty clothes lying around and tossed them in the hamper, trying to straighten up the room some.

"Is that all?" Teagan questioned. "I mean, we're okay, right?"

"Mm-hm." He mumbled, as he kept his back toward her.

She slowly shook her head at his actions. She could feel him shutting down and pulling away from her again. Deciding to test him, she walked over to him, coming to a stop in front of him, before she wrapped her arms around his neck. She stood up on her tip toes and as she pressed her lips against his for a heated kiss, desperate for him to kiss her back, to show her that things were okay between them, but when he laid his hands on her hips and gently pushed her away, she had her answer.

"So we're back to this, I see." Teagan said, as she took a step back from him. "We're back to you pulling away and shooting me down."

"No, we're not." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "But we are apparently back to lying to each other."

"What do you mean?" Teagan asked confused. "What are you lying about?"

"I'm not lying. You are." Isaac pointed out.

"What am I lying about?" Teagan questioned.

"Avery." He answered.

"What about Avery?" She asked confused.

"Something is going on with Avery. She wouldn't just decide not to have a huge birthday party. Something is going on and you're lying. Or you're covering for her." Isaac said. "Or maybe it's something with you again and she's covering for you. I don't know, but Teagan, whatever it is, we can't do this. Not again. If something is going on, you have to tell me."

Teagan titled her head back, looking at the ceiling, as she blew out a breath. "Isaac..." She began to say, as she dropped her head down to look at him.

"Look, if something is going on with you again. If you think you're, you know..." He said, as he gestured to her stomach. "You have to tell me."

Teagan shook her head with a sigh, as she said,"Damn it, Isaac, every time something is going on it is not cause I am keeping some huge, baby related, secret from you. We're not having a baby. We'll never have a baby, you can relax!"

"Hey, whoa, I never said we would never have a baby." Isaac said, as he reached out to grab her arm, as she turned to leave. "I just- I don't know if I want one, but either way, now is not the time for that."

"I don't want a baby right now either!" Teagan called out. "God! That's not even what any of this is about. There is nothing baby related going on, I swear!"

"Then what is going on?" Isaac asked. "What are you keeping from me?"

"Nothing! It has nothing to do with you or even with me." Teagan said.

"Then what are you not telling?" Isaac questioned. When she opened her mouth, he quickly added,"And don't even try to lie and say you're not lying cause you are the world's worst liar, babe. I can read you better than a kids book. I know you and I know you're lying."

"I didn't lie. Avery did go out of town..." She began to say. She let out a sigh, as she added,"She left with Derek."

"That's it?" Isaac asked, as he lowered his eyebrows in confusion. With the way she was acting he thought it was going to be a huge secret. He couldn't understand why she didn't just say that earlier if that was all. When she nodded her head to answer, he added,"What's the problem then? Why didn't you just say that at the house?"

"That is the problem." Teagan stated. She gestured toward him, the face he was making, as she added,"That look right there! That is why I didn't say anything cause you don't understand."

"I don't understand what?" Isaac asked, feeling even more confused.

"You don't see a problem with Avery and Derek. You don't lie in bed at night stressing and worrying that he is going to break her heart again." Teagan said.

"Babe.." Isaac began to say, as he took a step toward her until she held up her hand to stop him.

"No, don't say it. I already know what you are going to say." She interrupted. "You're going to tell me to let Avery and Derek worry about Avery and Derek. You're going to tell me not to stress myself out over it and maybe you're right, maybe I shouldn't be. Maybe Avery is right and maybe this time is different. And maybe I am just being paranoid about it all, but I can't not worry about her."

"I get it. Teagan, I do get it. I know how close you two are and I know how many times you have almost lost her, but I also know how strong Avery is." Isaac pointed out. "Even if it doesn't work out, she can survive a broken heart. Look at everything else she has been through. She has had some slip ups, but she is still standing."

As she shook her head and looked down at the floor, he finally took a step toward her, as he added,"And just look at us." When she raised her head to look at him with a confused expression on her face, he continued,"I've hurt you. I was an idiot and broke up with you, and I know it broke your heart, but you gave me another chance. I've given you countless of reason to kick me out of your life, but you never have."

"We're different. What happened between us was different." She tried to argue.

"It's not that different." Isaac said back. "After some of the things I have done, there are probably some people who think you shouldn't be with me and they're probably right, but you keep giving me chance after chance." He took a few more steps toward her, coming to a stop in front of her, before saying,"And I am very grateful for that." He reached up to lay a hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, as he softly said,"Cause I can't live without, Teagan."

When she opened her mouth to argue, he pressed his lips against hers, stopping her mid-word. He moved his lips against her until she stopped trying to argue and finally gave into him. Afterwards, he rested his forehead against hers, as he softly said,"Let Avery and Derek worry about Avery and Derek."

"It's not just her heart I am worried about." Teagan quietly admitted, as she laid her hand on his chest, over his heart.

"I know." He said back. He grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him, as he added,"I know you're worried about a set back. I know you're worried she'll try to hurt herself again, but for what it's worth, Derek's not that bad of a guy."

"Did you forget he kicked you out?" Teagan questioned. "He threw a glass at you. He used your past against you."

"Derek doesn't always do the right thing, but he does it for the right reason." Isaac stated. "That's the main thing I learned about him while he was my alpha. I might not always agree with the things he does, but at the time there was a good reason for it in his mind."

"I wish that made me feel better." Teagan said. She shook her head, as she added,"But it doesn't."

"I know and honestly, I wish there was something I could say to ease your mind, but I can't." Isaac said, as he rested his hands on either side of her neck. "All I can tell you is, if something does happen, Avery won't be alone. She'll have you and me by her side, we won't let her slip away from us."

"I can't lose her." Teagan whispered, as she balled her hand in a fist, grabbing a handful of his shirt.

"You won't." Isaac stated, as he laid a hand over her fist, grabbing her hand, showing her she wasn't alone. He laid his other hand on the side of her neck, bringing her toward him, as he tenderly kissed her forehead.

She had lost a lot in her life and he vowed to himself he would do whatever to make sure she never lost anyone else again. Not another friend, not Avery and not even himself. The last thing he wanted to see was her in pain again over losing a loved one. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, as he added,"Everything is going to be okay."

**~()~**

Avery restlessly turned over onto her other side, moving the bed again and causing Derek to stir as he let out a groggy groan and raised his head to make sure she was all right.

"Sorry." She apologized shooting him an empathetic look then letting out a small laugh as his head dropped back on the pillow and he fell right back to sleep.

Must be nice, she thought to herself. She was pretty sure she'd only racked up an hour of sleep total. The rest of the time she'd spent tossing and turning trying to get comfortable in the plush king sized bed in their upscale hotel room, but she just couldn't get her mind to turn off long enough for her to get any sleep.

There were several problems clouding her brain bad enough that even after being completely and utterly exhausted from the night before, she couldn't sleep. Most of all she was worried about Derek, no matter how good things were between them at the moment –in the back of her mind was the constant reminder that his name was the third cypher key. A secret she was currently keeping from him and not only was she still terrified for all of her friends being on the dead-pool, and the fact that Kate Argent was still in town, she also had normal things to worry about like the PSATs she hadn't been able to devote much studying time too.

With that thought she turned her head and looked over to his peaceful face and she couldn't stop herself from smiling, everything just felt so right when she was around him –she felt a sense of belonging, much stronger than the first time they'd been in a relationship.

Turning back onto her side she slid down in the bed some as she scooted up next to him, gently leaning her body against his as her head was barely up high enough to be on the pillow with him.

Closing her eyes she snuggled in closer and rested her forehead against his chest under his chin and breathed a small sigh of contentment, as she felt like maybe snuggled up against him she could catch a few hours of sleep before they had to head back to town. But she soon realized that wasn't going to be the case when he turned over onto his back in his sleep.

Among all of the other bad parts about Derek losing his powers, there was also the fact that he was sleeping not only more than he used to but he didn't wake up as easily. With a heavy sigh she gave up on sleeping and headed into the bathroom to catch an early morning shower. Digging through her weekend bag she decided on a short, gathered fabric black skirt and a dark green and black corset styled top.

After a hot shower she grabbed onto the large bath towels and wrapped in around her body as she stepped out onto the white bathmat and took her hair out of the clip she'd had it up during the shower since she didn't feel like washing her hair that morning. As she stepped up to the sink her eyes fluttered up to the large mirror, now coated in steam from the hot water she'd used.

Raising her hand she went to wipe it off the mirror but paused as all she could really see was blonde hair surrounded a flesh color void. Swallowing hard she pinned her eyes shut, memories of all the times she'd been haunted by a faceless version of herself.

Gaining the courage she slowly opened her eyes and quickly wiped the steam off of the glass a small part of her relieved when it was gone and she was staring at her own reflection. She still had some trouble with mirrors, or any reflective surface but it was all part of her learning to cope and getting better. Something she was fighting every day to do.

After getting dressed she brushed her hair and walked back out into the room to see Derek was still sleeping, she stretched with a small noise realizing for the first time her body was sore from the night before, but it was a good kind of sore. And every sore muscle, bite mark and bruise was more than worth the pain.

Walking over the large tinted glass door leading to the balcony she looked out to see the early morning sun starting to pain the sky and illuminate the courtyard of the hotel their balcony overlooked.

Opening a small closet she pulled out a white, plush fleece blanket with the hotels logo embroidered on it and walked outside sitting down on a padded bench as she pulled the blanket around her and stared off into the distance with her mind still racing.

It was moments like this, where there was too much noise in her head when she feared she was starting to slip again. Or maybe even that she wanted to slip, she'd been aware of the mini-bar in their hotel room from the moment she'd walked in and it would be so easy to just grab a few bottles and come back outside or even to try and not feel anything again.

But almost as if he knew she needed him, she looked when she heard a noise and saw Derek opening the door as he poked his head and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her.

She smiled at the sleepy look on his face and messy hair, it was obvious he'd just gotten up. And just like that she pushed the thoughts from her head, he was the reason she didn't want to be numb anymore. One of the reasons she kept fighting so hard to keep getting better and not slip back into her old habits.

He disappeared back into the room for a few minutes before emerging dressed for the day, but his hair was still a mess.

"Morning." He said, as he leaned down and kissed her before sitting down next to her.

"Morning." She smiled back as he wrapped an arm around her and held her against her side, both of them silently wishing they had more time away from home.

"What are you doing out here?" He questioned as he looked down to where she was huddled against his side.

"Just thinking." She softly admitted.

He squinted in the sun and looked around the courtyard waiting for her to go on, but when she didn't he asked, "What about?"

"A ton of things." She admitted with a weak laugh as she rested her head against him and said, "We all tried to keep what happened… me having to go away a secret. But people know I tried to kill myself, or they think they know."

With an angry expression he looked down to her and asked, "What did they say to you?"

She smiled at hearing the anger and protectiveness in his tone as she explained, "No one is ever brave enough to say anything to my face but I can hear their whispers in the hallway… I see the way they look at me. Like they're all just waiting for me to do something crazy."

Now with her not throwing a party she could only imagine the rumors that would start circulating about her. Rolling her eyes at the idea she reminded herself that she didn't care what any of them thought, especially because as much fun as a party would have been she'd trade it in a heartbeat to spend time with Derek alone like this.

"And the fact that you're dating me doesn't help." He quietly sympathized.

Avery scoffed, brushing some of her blonde hair from her face as a breeze blew past them. "Yeah, you actually wouldn't believe how many people still honestly believe you're the one who tried to kill me."

Her eyes fluttered closed as she shook her head every passing second made the idea of returning back to Beacon Hills less and less appealing.

Almost as if he could read her mind he said, "I wish we didn't have to go back today."

With a defeated sigh she offered, "We could just run away… we'd have about a week before my dad noticed I was missing."

Nodding he said, "Maybe, but I think Teagan would notice before then."

"She would… she would." Avery sighed as she leaned farther against his side and said, "Then she'd tell everyone else and they'd find us."

"And drag us back to Beacon Hills." He added.

"No matter how much we kicked or how loud we screamed." She continued with a small laugh as she could feel his body moving as he laughed too.

His arm tightened around her as she said, "It's not a good time for me to run away right now anyways. Scott's got a new beta and he needs my help with…everything, all of the time. Then there's the dead-pool thing."

Nodding he said, "When I got back from South America, and I was able to talk to my mom… when I found out how my family used to protect Beacon Hills, I realized that's what I was supposed to be doing. And then… when we found that pack of werewolves in the woods and they were all dead…" His voice trailed as he shook his head, feeling disappointed that he wasn't able to do anything to help them.

"None of that is your fault." She asserted, then questioned, "Did you know any of them?"

"No." He quietly replied, "But their alpha, Satomi, she used to visit my mother a lot when I was growing up."

"There's a chance she's still out there, you know. She wasn't one of the bodies in the woods, so she could still be out there." Avery offered a glimmer of hope as she reached a hand out from under her blanket and grabbed onto his hand, watching as they intertwined their fingers.

Remembering back to their conversation from the night before about the plans she'd made with Jackson after graduation, her cleared his throat and asked, "Yesterday you said you'd planned on moving away after graduation… are you still planning on that?"

Raising her head from his side she looked at him and questioned, "Why?"

Shrugging like it wasn't a big deal, Derek reasoned, "It was just a question.

"Is someone thinking about the future?" She teased with laugh as she looked at him.

"Not just the future… our future." He said, catching her completely off guard before he reminded her, "I said I wasn't leaving again."

Laying her head back down to hide the smile on her face from him she stuttered, "I… uh, I don't know really. If you had asked me that a year ago, I'd have told you I was leaving Beacon Hills the day I graduated. Head for New York… or maybe even L.A."

He looked down to her as she shrugged and said, "But now… I don't know, I've been looking into local colleges."

A chilly gust of early morning air passed over them and she shivered, cuddling even closer to him as he looked down to her, gently moving some of her hair that had blown across her face. As she peered back to him, he wondered if he was one of the reasons she was thinking about staying close to her home town now.

"Of course…" She breathed out as she untangled an arm from her blanket and rubbed her forehead, "That depends on if I can find a good local law school."

With a smile he looked at her and asked, "You're going to be a lawyer?"

Nodding she bit down on her lip and said, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Laughing, he ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he shrugged and defended, "I just… I think it's great, you want to be a lawyer and help people."

"Oh no, I don't want to help anyone." She admitted as she laughed, "I'm going be a high profile lawyer who only handles cases of the rich and famous." Shooting him a smile he continued, "That's how I'm going to get rich and famous."

He shook his head and her and tried to hold back a laugh.

"I'm kidding… well, kind of." Avery said, "But that's assuming I do well in school and pass the bar exam…"

"You can do it, I know you can." Derek encouraged with a proud expression as he watched her and thought of how far she'd came and how well she was doing for everything she'd been through.

Smiling she raised up, pressing a heated kiss to his lips before pulling back and whispering, "Even if it doesn't work out that way. I'll be okay… as long as I've got you, I'll be happy."

**~()~**

That afternoon, Teagan was laid across her bed on her stomach, with several books open in front of her. She jerked her head up when she heard the bedroom door open. She smiled, with a pen in her mouth, as Isaac walked into the room.

The pen dropped out of her mouth, as she gasped and asked,"Is that food I smell?"

"Yeah and it's your favorite." Isaac answered, as he held up a bag of Chinese food. "Since I voted against you last night with Mexican, I thought I would make up and bring Chinese."

"You're the best, I love you." Teagan stated, as she sat up on her knees and reached out for the bag.

"I love you too." Isaac said, as he smiled at her antics.

"Oh, yeah, love you too, babe. But I was talking to the food." Teagan said, as she bit into an egg roll.

"So I'm second to Chinese?" Isaac questioned, as he reached out to take the bag of food back.

"No!" Teagan called out, as she grabbed it back. "And of course you are first."

"Are you talking to me this time or the food again?" He questioned with a laugh.

Teagan took another bite of the egg roll while deep in thought, before saying,"Can't I just say both?"

"No you have to pick." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "Now, I know Chinese is good, but can I just make one argument?" He questioned. When she nodded her head, he laid a finger under her chin, tilting her head up, as he pressed his lips against hers for a deep kiss.

"Wow." Teagan mumbled, as he pulled away to end the kiss. She opened her eyes to look at him, a smile on her lips, as she said,"There's no contest. You are definitely better than Chinese."

"Good to know." Isaac said with a grin, as he gave her another kiss before taking the rest of the egg roll from her hand and eating it.

Teagan pouted at him stealing her food. She grabbed another egg roll, then quickly jumped out of bed when he reached out for it. She took a bite of it, then told him she would be back, she was going to grab some drinks.

She wasn't gone long, then made her way back upstairs with drinks in her hands. "Okay, ready to study?" She questioned, as she walked into the room; seeing him standing at her desk looking at something.

"What is it?" Teagan asked, wondering what he was looking at. She could tell by his posture that something was bothering him.

"College brochures." Isaac said, as he flipped through the different ones on her desk.

"Yeah, the school counselor gave them to me." Teagan said, as she walked over toward him. "Apparently it is never to early to start looking at colleges." She added, as she took them from his hand, and placed them in the top drawer of her desk.

"All of them are east, none are in California or even near California." Isaac pointed out. He lifted his head to look at her, a confused look on his face, as he asked,"Are you planning to go back east for college?" He knew she lived on the east coast the two years she was gone, but always assumed now that she was back, she would always stay in California.

"Honestly, I'm not sure where I'm going to apply. The counselor just gave me brochures from different places." Teagan said. She pulled out more brochures from her desk drawer, showing him that some of those were for California.

Isaac nodded his head, then pointed out,"But you had those put up and were looking at the east ones."

"I was just looking, Isaac." Teagan softly said. She was honest before, she didn't know where she going to apply. There was a time where she thought she would go to the local college in town, and she still might, but then after spending two months away from town with Isaac, being away from all the town drama, she realized how nice that felt and it made her start wondering about other school in other places, but no matter where she went. She wasn't leaving him.

"I just always thought we would stay here, in town or at least the state." He stated, as he leaned back against her desk, folding his arms across his chest. He knew college was already expensive and knew out of state would be more.

"And we can." Teagan said, as she stepped in front of him. She unfolded his arms, wrapped them around her waist, then stepped closer to him to lay her arms around his neck. "Nothing is set yet, Isaac. We still have time to plan all of this and we'll plan it together, okay?" She leaned forward to press her lips against his for a sweet kiss. "It's you and me." She whispered against his lips.

'Yeah, but, if you wanted to go somewhere else... Teagan, you're smart. You could literally get in anywhere if you tried, you don't need to be stuck here with me." He pointed out, as he stepped away from her.

"I'm never stuck anywhere with you, Isaac. I am where I want to be, cause I want to be. I want just to be with you, where ever that is, I'll be happy as long as we are together." She said back.

"But if you get into one of these other schools and I can't, which let's face it, it probably won't happen with my grades. You have to go, Teagan." He argued.

"Isaac, college is a couple of years from now. We don't have to decide any of that right now." Teagan said. She walked back up to him, placing her hands on either side of his face, as she added,"Besides like I said, we'll decide that together. I told you before I don't know where we will go or what will happen, but one thing I do know for sure, I want to spend all my days with you. You are my future, Isaac. You are all I need."

"But-"

She pressed her lips against his, stopping him before he could say another word. Anytime he tried to talk again, she would just kiss him more, until he finally sighed and gave in. He cupped her cheek, as he took over and moved his lips against hers.

"It's you and me." She mumbled again against his lips.

He lightly stroked her cheek, as he said,"You know, I don't know how I feel with you getting all bossy with me."

"You know you secretly love it." Teagan teased, as she kissed him again before lightly nibbling on his lip. "You love it when I wear the pants." She whispered, her lips inches from his.

Isaac shook his head, as he said,"Correction. I love it when you wear no pants."

Teagan chuckled at his comment, then turned to walk away until he grabbed her arm, pulling her back toward him. He took her by surprise, as he lifted her up and tossed her over her shoulder.

"Isaac!" She yelled out, as she slapped his back.

"This is what happens when you get bossy." Isaac reminded her, as he bounced her on his shoulder, causing her to laugh out loud.

He walked over toward her bed then tossed her on top of it. He knocked all the books on to the floor, causing her to gasp. "Hey! We need to study!"

"Are you being bossy again?" He questioned, as he climbed on to the bed, hovering above her.

Teagan nodded her head, as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer to her. He leaned down, pressing his lips against hers for a gentle kiss. He grabbed her hands, laying them above her head, then ran his hands down her arms.

He ran his hands over her body, just enjoying the feel of her soft skin. As much as he enjoyed the kissing, sometimes he just enjoyed touching her. He loved hearing her heart race and hearing her breathing pick up. He enjoyed seeing the goosebumps appear on her skin when he lightly ran his finger tips against her skin. He just loved everything about her. The feel of her, the way she taste, her scent. Everything about her captivated him.

He laid a hand on the side of her face, staring at her, as he grabbed the bottom of her shirt with his other hand, planning to pull it off, but before he could, they heard her cell phone go off.

Isaac groaned, as he rolled off of her and fell back on to her bed. She chuckled as she leaned up, grabbed the phone and seeing she had a text from Avery; telling her they were almost home.

"It's Avery." Teagan stated, as she texted her friend back, feeling relieved that she seemed to be in good spirits. Maybe Derek didn't completely screw up this time.

"Of course it is. She's not even in town and she cockblocks." Isaac complained. "Unbelievable." He breathed out.

Teagan turned the sound off of her phone, then sat it back down before she sat up to throw a leg over his body, straddling him. "Well now, I have my phone on silent. No distractions."

"No distractions?" Isaac questioned, finding it too good to be true. He laid a hand on the side of her neck, bring her toward him as he pressed his lips against hers.

"No distractions." Teagan mumbled against his lips. "So what are you going to do about that?" She asked.

"I get to be in control now? Miss Bossy is letting me take over?" Isaac joked.

Teagan chuckled at the comment, as she said,"I am not bossy."

"You are bossy..." Isaac began to say, as he kissed her again. "But I love it." He added, as he brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

Teagan smiled as she leaned down to press her lips against his, before saying, "Well if I am in charge, I think we should study. The PSAT are soon and-"

Before she could finish, he rolled them over, as he said,"Never mind. You're not in charge anymore. You have terrible ideas."

"So does that mean dating you is a terrible idea?" She joked.

"It's a horrible idea." Isaac said with a small smile. He was mostly serious, but didn't want her to know that.

Teagan smiled back, as she said,"Well then you are my favorite horrible idea ever."

"And you're my beautiful mess." Isaac said back, as he tapped the end of her nose, causing her to laugh.

"It's you and me." Teagan whispered, as she looked up at him. She was honest before, she didn't know where they would go or what they would do, but she did know they would be together. He was her future, she just hoped she would always be his.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks to xxXWolfsLullaby, SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, Momsen-xxx, DancingDorisDay, guest and IrisRainbowWolf for reading and reviewing chapter 29!**

**We'd also like to thank you all for reading and hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	31. Let the Poison Sink in

**Chapter Thirty One – Let the Poison Sink in**

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><p>The morning of the test, most of the juniors were standing in line in the hallway, waiting until they could go inside the classroom. Scott, Stiles, Kira and Malia were quietly talking. Avery was in her own little world, as she stared down at her cell phone. Ever so often they would hear her chuckle to herself or see a huge grin on her face, but no one questioned her. The first time they tried she just ignored them.<p>

Teagan had a good idea of who her best friend was texting. She assumed it was Derek. After a birthday trip away, it seemed like things were better than ever, and she wanted to be happy about that, she really did, but she couldn't help but worry that something bad was on the horizon. Every time she heard Avery's phone go off, she would roll her eyes. She was already stressed about the test and hearing all the Derek text and seeing her best friend wearing one of his trademark leather jackets wasn't helping matters.

She knew she couldn't stress about the Avery or Derek thing now though. She sighed, as she tried to push all of that aside and think about the huge test she was about to take. She quickly went over everything she learned in her head. Isaac; who was standing behind her, with his head against the locker trying to stay awake, heard her mumbling to herself, but when he heard her quietly gasp, he raised his head to look at her, asking her what was wrong.

"Oh, my God!" Teagan breathed out. Her eyes widen, as she said,"I just forgot everything I ever learned in algebra. I forgot how to algebra."

"No one knows algebra." Isaac pointed out, causing her to shoot him a look, letting him know he wasn't helping.

"Oh, God, I'm gonna fail." Teagan moaned, as she rubbed her forehead.

"You're not going to fail." Isaac stated, as he laid his hands on her shoulders, giving it a small rub. "You're going to do great, babe." He whispered in her ear, before kissing the side of her head.

"What if I forget words too? Like the meaning of words?" Teagan questioned, as she turned to look at him. "Quick, give me a word. Not an easy one though. Make it hard-"

Before she could finish her sentence, he pressed his lips against her to shut her up. He pulled back to look at her, a grin on his face, as he went to make a dirty joke, but before he could Scott cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"Whatever you were going to say... please don't." The alpha begged.

"Yeah, the day already sucks, and one of your sex jokes is not going to make it better." Stiles pointed out.

"You don't know what I was going to say." Isaac argued.

"She said the word 'hard', I know how your dirty little mind works." Stiles argued back.

"You do have a dirty little mind, Lahey." Avery spoke up, before she began to type out on her phone again.

"See, even Avery knows and she's not even paying attention." Stiles pointed out.

"I thought I was awkward?" Isaac questioned, as he looked over at the blonde, remembering all the times she told him he made awkward comments.

"You're awkward and dirty." Avery answered, as she glanced up from her phone for a minute. "You're also a bit of a kink master from what I hear."

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she buried her face in Isaac's shirt. She swore to herself she would never tell Avery anything again.

"What's a kink master?" Malia asked confused.

"Something Stiles will never be." Isaac answered.

"Hey!" Stiles called out.

When Teagan saw Avery open her mouth to answer, she pointed a finger at her, as she said,"Do not answer that question."

Avery chuckled, as she looked back down at her phone to send Derek another text. After sending the text, she sent Lydia a text, asking the red-head if she was okay. They all knew Meredith's death was hard on her.

"Who are you texting anyways?" Stiles questioned, as he leaned forward to look at her phone, as she darkened the screen.

"Let me guess... Derek." Teagan said with an eye roll. She felt Isaac lay his hands on her shoulders, giving them a squeeze, as he breathed out her name in her ear, trying to calm her down. She was already stressed enough about the test, he didn't want her to stress about the Avery and Derek thing again.

Avery ignored her best friend's tone, as she nodded her head, but when her phone went off, she looked down, then said."But actually this text is from Lydia."

"How is she?" Teagan asked, concern for the red-head.

"She says she is fine." Avery said, although both girls knew that wasn't the truth. "She says good luck to everyone." She added, as she looked at the small group in front of her.

"Where is Lydia?" Kira questioned.

"She's already taken the test." Teagan answered, as Avery began to ignore them all again when her phone went off with a new text message from Derek.

Stiles nodded his head, as he added,"She took it her freshman year."

"Does that mean I could have taken it some other time?" Malia questioned, wondering why she was here now if she could do it later.

"Malia, you studied harder for this than any of us." Scott spoke up.

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna do good." Malia argued.

"Well..." Stiles said, correcting her.

"Well, what?" Malia asked confused.

"It's do well, not good." Stiles pointed out.

"Oh, God!" Malia called out in frustration.

"Well, if anything happened, maybe you can retake it." Isaac offered, trying to put her mind at ease.

Teagan shook her head, as she said,"It's only given once a year and your junior year is the last time you can take it." She saw a look a panic appear on Malia's face, then quickly added,"But none of that matters, cause you'll be okay. You have busted your ass on this." She honestly believed Malia studied harder than all of them combined.

Scott nodded his head in agreement, before saying,"You're doing this, because while we're trying not to die, we still need to live. If I survive high school, I'd like to go to college. A good college."

Teagan opened her mouth to add to his comment, until she heard Isaac coughing. As soon as he heard the word 'college' his throat went dry. He had honestly never planned to go to college. He knew he couldn't afford it and his grades were never that good, but he knew it was something Teagan wanted, which was the only reason he was there now. He was there for her only.

"Are you okay, Isaac?" Teagan quietly asked him, as she heard Kira say,"It's only three hours. We can survive three hours."

Isaac nodded his head, as he stated,"I just need some water."

Teagan saw him turn and head down the hall, looking for a water fountain. She told the others she would be back, but none of them even noticed the couple had left. Avery was still lost in her phone and the others had began talking about something else.

Teagan rushed down the hall way and turned a corner, seeing Isaac getting some water from a fountain. She walked up behind her, laying her hands on his back, rubbing his back in a circular motion, as she asked,"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." He simply said, as he went to walk away.

Teagan reached out to grab his arm, knowing there was something bothering him. "Hey... Talk to me." She pleaded, as she turned him around to face her. "What's wrong?"

"Honestly?" He questioned, making sure she really wanted his honest answer. When she nodded her head, he blew out a breath as he said,"I just don't see the point in being here. I don't see the point in being stuck here for three hours taking a test that means nothing."

"Well it's-"

"I know it's practice for the SATs." He interrupted, knowing that is what she was going to say. "But for someone who's not planning to go to college, those are a waste of time too."

"Yeah, but you're going to college." Teagan pointed out. When she saw him sigh and ran a hand through his hair, she lowered her eyebrows, as she added,"You are planning to go to college, right?"

"I never planned to." He answered her honestly.

"What?" Teagan breathed out in surprise. The few times college was brought up between them he always acted like he did plan to go and he spend all that time studying for the test with her, but if he never planned to go why was he even there, which was what she asked him.

"I mean, if you don't even care about going, why are you taking the test?"

"For you." He answered. "I'm taking it for you and to show you..."

"Show me what?" Teagan asked when he paused.

"That I'm not as good as you think I am. That I'm not..."

"What? What, Isaac, just say it!" Teagan stated, as she folded her arms across her chest. When he didn't say anything, as she shook her head, before saying,"I don't understand why you always think you're not good enough for me. It's like you put me on this pedestal, like I'm this perfect person, but I'm not. None of us are perfect, we are all flawed. I'm not better than you and you're not better than me. We have all made mistakes, Isaac."

Isaac looked down at the floor as he slowly shook his head. He wanted to believe her words, but he also knew all the many mistakes he had made in his life, the mistakes he had made with her; like the times he had snapped at her and the times he hurt her. He felt like his mistakes outweighed hers, and unfortunately those mistakes were weighing heavily on his mind more and more lately.

"What about what we have talked about? Our dreams?" Teagan questioned. "We're talked about going to college together. What about that?"

"That's your dream, Teagan." He softly said, as he shook his head. "I don't have dreams. I learned a long time ago it was pointless to dream. The one dream I ever allowed myself to have, was you... But sometimes..."

"Sometimes what?"

"Sometimes, I feel like I'm losing that dream." Isaac quietly said, as he raised his head to look at her.

"Then fight to keep it!" Teagan snapped. "Fight to keep me, Isaac!"

"What the hell do you think I'm doing, Teagan?" Isaac snapped back. "I'm here now for you! Every day, everything I do, is to hold on to you. I'm trying like hell not to lose you. For months now I feel like all I'm doing is just trying to keep you from slipping away, trying not to lose you, but sometimes I feel like I'm barely holding on to you."

She opened her mouth to say something back, but before she could, she saw Kira from over his shoulder. She turned her attention to the dark haired girl; who nervously informed them they were about to start the test and it was time to go inside the class room.

Teagan thanked her, then shook her head when she tossed out an apology, telling her it was okay. Once Kira was gone, Teagan turned to look at Isaac, as she said,"I got a test to take. You can-You can just do whatever."

Without another word, she brushed past him to head back to the others. Isaac angrily sighed, as he shook his head, before he began to walk in the same direction she was. He still felt like all of this was stupid, but he knew it's what he had to do. Just like with everything else in his life, he knew he had to keep fighting to hold on to the life he had now. The one he never wanted to lose.

**~()~**

The group of friends made their way into the classroom once the doors were opened, Avery clung to the back of the group her phone glued to her hands as she continued to text Derek. The last thing on earth she wanted to do was be at school taking her PSATs, but Scott had made them all swear they'd be there to take it. Everyone except for Lydia who'd already taken and passed it with an extremely high score.

"Avery, you're holding up the line."

Glancing over her shoulder Avery looked at a girl she didn't recognize, giving the girl a once over she asked, "Do I know you?"

"I'm Sydney…" The brunette said, her brows furrowing together as she continued to admit, "You sat right next to me in sociology last year."

"Hmm." Avery hummed out, ignoring her as she went back to her texting but scooted down in the line some.

Looking over her shoulder Avery saw all of her friends were already seated, she stifled a laugh at Teagan politely trying to tell someone that the seat next to her was taken.

Moving her phone to her other hand, she rolled the pad of her thumb across the ink pad before placing it down on the designated box on the coversheet of the test.

"We need to put your phone in the bag, Avery. You'll get it back right after." Lydia's mom said with a warm smile at the teenager.

She nodded but just as she started to hand her phone over she saw the screen light up and she quickly took it back, opening the text from Derek to see he wished her good luck on the test and that he couldn't wait to see that night when she came over.

A smile spread over her lips and she started to text him back but Lydia's mom cleared her throat and said, "Avery…"

But the blonde held up her index finger showing she needed a minute, causing the girl behind her to sigh heavily but Avery ignored her.

Leaning in slightly Lydia's mom smiled as she said, "Tell him you have an important test and you'll text him afterwards. You're holding up the line."

Glancing up Avery questioned with raised eyebrows, "What makes you think I'm texting a guy?"

"Avery, I've known you since you were five years old. Now hand the phone over." She instructed as she held out her hand.

Sending her text message off to Derek she darkened her screen and placed it in her hand before spinning on her heels and making her way to the empty seat beside Teagan, as she sat down she hugged Derek's jacket to herself and smiled at the comforting scent from the fabric.

"Everything okay?" The brunette questioned as she eyed her best friend with a small sigh.

"Yeah." Avery answered beaming a smile as she adjusted the test packet on her desk and looked back to her friend, but her eyes went past Teagan to where Isaac was sitting angrily thumping his pencil on the desk.

She started to as if he was okay, but before she could say anything the testing advisor announced, "Please do not open the test booklet until you are instructed to do so. This test is two hours and 10 minutes. There will be two 25-minute critical reading sections, two 25-minute math sections and an essay writing portion that will last 30 minutes."

Teagan looked over and saw Stiles quickly close his test booklet, and nervously look around to make sure no one had seen him. She held back a laugh at his expense then looked back down to her test.

After it was pointed out to Ms. Martin that there were supposed to be two teachers administering the exam, she let the room to check on Coach Finstock since he was supposed to be there.

A few moments later she returned with news that coach wouldn't be making it and the class needed to begin their tests anyways.

Teagan opened her booklet when she was instructed and took a deep breath but as she started to pick her pencil up a chill set in. Shivering slightly she pulled her thin jacket closed and tried to focus on the test but it was getting hard to focus on the words on the paper when it felt like the chill was emanating from within her.

Slowly she raised her head and saw Malia pulling her jacket off. From the corner of her eye she saw another student fanning themselves as if the room was hot but she remained cold.

"No…" She breathed pinning her eyes shut as she remembered the last time a chill like that set it, was right before they'd lost Allison. At first she'd thought it was a side effect of Avery poking around in her head, but then in the time she'd spent away from Beacon Hills it had faded.

As she raised her head she looked over and saw Isaac was watching her with a concerned look on his face as he silently mouthed '_are you okay_?' forging a smile she nodded and then looked back to her test when she saw Lydia's mom watching her.

Isaac wasn't able to concentrate on his own test, not now that he could hear Teagan's erratic heartbeat. He couldn't tell what was bothering her, the room was thick with anxiety from all the other students but he knew something was really wrong when he noticed Avery was unable to focus on her test either.

She had same terrified look on her face that Teagan had –had moments ago. As each second ticked by the pair of best friends continued to appear more agitated, Teagan could feel the chill almost painfully deep in her bones and Avery had a sinking feeling in her stomach like they'd just walked right into a trap.

Teagan and Avery both about jumped out of their skin when there was a loud thud from within in the room as a fellow student, Sydney fell out of her desk.

"Sydney!" Ms. Martin exclaimed as she rushed to the student's aide.

Standing up feeling self-conscious from the scene she'd caused the teenager nervously laughed, "I'm okay, I just got kind of dizzy."

Avery looked over to see Teagan and Isaac leaned across the aisle between them whispering to each other, and then back to the front of the room as the test instructor asked if the test needed to be paused, but Lydia's mom said no, that everyone should stay in their seats.

Once she was out of the room Avery leaned over towards her best friend as she asked, "What's going on?"

"I… I've got that chill again, like after you were in my head." Teagan softly admitted.

Avery's eyes widened as she stared down to her still open test booklet, nervously tapping her foot against the floor until she finally admitted, "Something's wrong, T. I've got a bad feeling… this knot in my stomach like we just walked into a trap."

Closing his test Isaac spoke up, "Well, that's enough for me. The last time Teagan felt like this, something really bad happened and if you're not feeling right either. I'm out!"

"Isaac!" Teagan hissed shaking her head as she tried to reason, "Maybe it's just nerves? I've been studying so hard for this I've not been sleeping much."

Avery looked across the room to where Scott and Stiles were talking to each other, both of them seemed concerned as well.

"I say we just…" Isaac's voice trailed off and his face twisted with confusion.

"What?" Teagan asked, knowing he could hear something that they couldn't.

"Lydia's mom she's yelling at someone to get back outside and not to come in the building." Isaac explained jumping out of his seat as he saw Scott rushing towards the classroom door.

Without wasting a second both girls were on their feet and racing after them, Kira and Malia followed suit while Stiles stumbled over his own feet trying to catch up with everyone.

Once they were in the hallway, everyone noticed how panicked Lydia's mom looked as she ordered them all to go back inside of the classroom. As they walked back inside everyone started to go back to their seats except for Scott, Isaac and Malia. Scott and Isaac exchanged looks as Teagan questioned, "What did you hear now?"

"What's the CDC?" Malia spoke up with a confused expression.

"The center for disease control… why?" Avery asked, then her eyes widened as she looked over to where Sydney was sitting down, looking weaker and paler by the second.

"Oh my god…" The blonde breathed shaking her head back and forth, "When Lydia's mom helped Sydney back to her feet, there was something on her wrist… a rash or something."

"This… isn't good at all." Teagan breathed shivering again.

It was less than an hour later that the CDC arrived and started to quarantine the school. They set clear plastic medical tents and equipment in the gym, covered all of the doors and windows no one was allowed in or out of the school. They led students who were already showing signs of rashes to the gym, the students who were so far in the clear were instructed to stay in their classrooms.

**~()~**

Teagan blew out a heavy breath as she watched Avery and Scott leave the room with Ms. Martin to try and find out more about what happens next. As she turned back around she saw Malia hop up onto a desk and look around as Stiles sat up on a desk across from her.

"Still cold?" Isaac questioned as she stood close to Teagan.

"A little." She nodded, but the truth was she was more than just a little cold.

"What's happening?" Kira asked them as she folded her arms over her chest and eyed her friends.

"I heard smallpox." Stiles admitted.

Teagan shook her head, "No way."

"Yes way!" He argued.

"Small pox was eradicated worldwide." The test administrator casually explained as he flipped through a magazine.

"Yeah but how long ago?" Stiles fired a question at him.

"In 1979." Teagan spoke up.

Looking back up from his magazine he nodded in agreement, "We've only managed to completely eradicate two viruses in history. The other was rinderpest. It killed cows."

"Is that supposed to make us feel better?" Isaac asked with a stunned expression as he rubbed his hands up and down Teagan's arms, trying to both warm her up and comfort her.

"Unless it's something worse." The instructor said, causing Isaac to groan in frustration.

"Whatever it is they're taking it pretty seriously… there's a lot of cars and trucks out there." Malia filled them in and Isaac nodded in agreement.

"They don't know what it is, not yet at least." Avery announced as she and Scott walked back into the room.

"Right now they're just trying to isolate the sick." Scott helped her explain, but his breathing seemed a little labored.

Avery walked over to the desk and started to go through the tub containing the envelopes holding everyone's phones, as she searched for her number on the labels.

Looking to Stiles, Isaac pointed out, "Your dad is out there too."

"Avery, toss me my phone I should call him." Stiles yelled at her as he felt his pocket for the tag with the number for his phone envelope.

"Don't bother. They would have shut off any access to all outside communication by now. No cell service, no WiFi. No one starting a panic. Looks like we're all just going to have to wait here and see what happens."

Avery snapped her gaze up to the unfamiliar instructor as she arched a brow and said, "No, you don't understand… I need my phone, there is someone I need to get a hold of… right now."

Shrugging he said, "All access would have already been cut."

Locating Stiles' phone she tossed him the envelope, where he tried but wasn't able to make a single phone call.

"Where's my phone?" Avery asked as she double checked the basket but still couldn't find her number.

"All of the phones were in there." Kira said as she walked up beside the blonde to help her look.

Teagan walked over to them leaving Isaac and Scott talking about how something just seemed entirely off about the situation.

"Avery, here…" Teagan said as she pulled the container from her friend's hands and offered, "Let me look."

"It's not in there, T!" Avery loudly exclaimed as she rubbed her forehead

Rolling her eyes, Teagan pushed the phone container away from them and in an annoyed tone pointed out, "You really can't go a second without texting Derek."

Avery let out a laugh as she looked over her shoulder and flashed their group of friends a smile when she felt their eyes on her back, as they all went back to talking amongst themselves. The blonde reached out to either side and pulled Kira and Teagan into a tight huddle catching them both completely off guard.

"What's happening?" Kira asked looking around, but she didn't dare try to pull out of Avery's grip.

"What's happening is we need to split up and find my phone because there are some pictures on there that I don't really anyone seeing." Her voice came out in a quiet hiss.

Kira looked at her with wide eyes as she gasped, "Yeah, we need to find your phone… now."

"A! You didn't!" Teagan exclaimed as she rubbed her hands over her own face in disbelief.

"Chill… I'm not exactly naked in these pictures…" She admitted, looking between them.

"Not exactly?" Kira breathed confused.

"It just means that there are some pictures on my phone that I don't exactly want people getting their hands on, okay?" Avery snapped, thinking not only was there pictures of herself that she didn't want getting out, but she'd also taken pictures of open case files at the station and if anyone saw that and tracked it back to Deputy Parrish, he could get in a lot of trouble.

"Okay." Kira quickly agreed, sensing the blonde was getting stressed.

Teagan picked the phones up and started going through them one at a time as she mumbled under her breath, "I can't believe you did this… it's completely irresponsible."

"And I can never un-hear that conversation… no matter how bad I want to." Isaac called out over his shoulder not even turning around to see both Avery and Teagan him shoot him a look.

Avery saw Scott rub a hand over his head as he glanced around, trying to not look Avery and she knew he'd been listening to their conversation too. Malia was giving her a slightly confused look as Stiles continued to repeatedly try to call out from his phone oblivious to the blonde's current perils.

As the girls were in the middle of sorting through envelopes one by on the instructor cleared his throat as he held up an envelope and said, "One must have fell behind the desk, is this yours?"

Kira took it from him and handed it to her friend. Avery breathed a sigh of relief, it would have horrible if her phone had wound up in the wrong hands.

As she started to take her phone from it, the instructor said, "It's Dukate, right? Avery Dukate?"

She slowly turned to look back at him as she nodded before glancing down to the envelope, searching for a place where it said her name but she didn't have much time to look as Scott pushed past his group of friends and headed towards the hallway.

"Scott?" Kira called after him, but he didn't respond.

Isaac stood up from the desk he was leaned against as he announced, "I… I need some air or something."

Also standing up Stiles said, "We can't go outside."

"Then I'm going to hallway." Isaac said, his voice had a slight growl to it as he spoke and Teagan saw his eyes flash yellow for a split second.

As he started to stumble out of the room she rushed after him, leaving the rest of their friends to exchange looks as the day seemed to be getting worse.

**~()~**

After Isaac rushed out of the room, Teagan quickly made her way in to the hallway, glancing around from side to side, but didn't see him anywhere. She wasn't sure what was going on with him, it was almost like he was having problems with shifting, but there was no full moon.

She turned to the left, heading down the hallway, having a good idea where she could find him. It was a place that was quickly becoming their place; the men's restroom.

Teagan pushed the door open and walked inside, seeing Isaac with his arms laid against the wall with his head hanging down as he took several deep breaths, trying to control the shift.

She heard him mumbling to himself, but couldn't understand what he was saying. She didn't know he was quietly repeating their mantra, which normally calmed him down, but this time it wasn't doing anything for him, which honestly freaked him out. He had not had this much trouble controlling himself in a while.

"Isaac.." She breathed out, as she went to take a step toward him until he spoke up to stop her.

"Don't! Don't come closer."

She softly said his name again, her heart beating in her chest as she worried about what was going on with him. But hearing her heart, and feeling her anxiety was only making him worst. He growled out in frustration, as he slapped the wall with his hand, causing her to jump back in surprise. She felt her eyes widen when she saw his claws were out and scratching against the cold tile wall, as he tried to get control of himself.

"Isaac... What is going on?" Teagan asked, as she lowered her eyebrows in concern. She couldn't understanding what was making him lose control now and all she wanted to do was help.

"I don't know." Isaac mumbled, as he shook his head before letting it drop to rest against the wall. He was just as confused as she was, but he knew he couldn't keep it under control any longer, he knew he was about to snap soon and the last thing he wanted to do was snap on her or hurt her. "But you have to get out of here." He added, as he made a pained noise, which only made her want to stay that much more.

"No. I'm not going anywhere." She argued, as she took a cautious step toward him.

"Yes, you have to, Teagan. You-"

"No!" She yelled out, interrupting him.

"Yes." He growled back, as he finally turned around to face her, his face completely shifted and his eyes glowing.

Teagan swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She should have probably been scared, she should have probably went screaming from the room, but she wouldn't do it. She wasn't scared of him, she knew it was still her Isaac and he wouldn't hurt her.

She took a step toward him, as she held out her hands in surrender and said,"I'm not going anywhere."

"How stupid are you?" Isaac snarled, as he took a step toward her, causing her to take a step back.

"What?" She breathed out in surprise.

"I'm a werewolf, Teagan." He stated, as he took another step. Any time he took a step toward her, she took another one back until her back slammed against the wall. He came to a stop in front of her, placing his hands on either side of her head, as he continued,"Do you have any idea how badly I could hurt you? How badly I want to hurt you?"

"I don't care." She said, trying to sound braver than she felt. She was honest before, she wouldn't leave him, but that didn't mean she wasn't a little scared by his actions.

Isaac leaned toward her, getting a whiff of her scent, before whispering in her ear,"You might can keep your heart steady, but you can't hide your fear." He pulled back a little to look at her, his eyes flashing, as he added,"You reek of fear. You are terrified of me right now and you should be."

He had always told her, he could read her. He knew her body language, he knew every expression on her face, he could hear her heart or pick up her scent. She couldn't do the latter two, but she could read him as well, and as he turned away from her, she saw the look on his face. She knew that look. She knew what all of this was about now. He wouldn't really hurt her. He was just trying to scare her, trying to push her away.

"I know what you're trying to do. You're trying to scare me so badly that I'll leave you." She said with a scoff. She shook her head as she added,"But it's not going to work, Isaac."

He quickly spun around, slamming his hands on the wall on either side of her head, as he yelled out,"When are you going to get it, Teagan? I'm not good enough for you. I'm a screw up. I keep screwing up and you deserve so much better than me."

"You make mistakes, but that's okay, cause we all do." She said, as she kept her eyes on him. She reached up to remove one of his hands from the wall, placing the palm of her hand against his, as she intertwined their fingers. "But don't ever think you're a screw up, don't ever think you are not good enough for me. You brought out the best version of me... You changed my whole world with one kiss. " She reached up to grab his other hand, intertwining their fingers, as she whispered out,"It's you and me, Isaac. It's always you and me."

Isaac stared at her, his breathing labored, as he finally felt his face shifting back to normal. He blew out a breath, as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. "It's you and me."

Teagan breathed out a sigh of relief, as she released one of his hands to lay her hand on the back of his neck. She ran her hand up to his hair, running her fingers through it, as she held him closely to her. "It's you and me." She whispered out again, relieved his shifting was under control.

"I'm sorry." Isaac breathed out, as he squeezed his eyes closed, ashamed of how he acted earlier.

"It's okay. It's not your fault." She whispered, as she lightly ran her finger nails against his scalp.

Isaac sighed, as he pulled back to look at her, before saying,"You can't keep making excuses for me, Teagan."

"I'm not." She said back, as she laid her hands on either side of his face."But you can't keep thinking you're not good enough, cause you are. We're not perfect, Isaac, but we're good together. We're stronger than anything that tries to tear us apart."

He nodded his head in agreement at her words, then said,"Something is going on."

"I know. Something is making you act this way, but we'll figure it out, okay? We're figure this out together." She said back.

Isaac shook his head, as he rested his hands on her hips, before saying,"I love you..."

"Isaac, don't..." She began to say, having a good idea what he was about to say next and had a feeling she wouldn't like it.

"I love you.." He began to say again. "But If this happens again, if I start shifting and can't stop it, you have to lock me up somewhere, okay? I know I can never talk you out of leaving me, but you have to at least lock me up, okay?"

"I can't promise that. Not until we figure out what is really going on. Cause no matter what, I'm not leaving you alone to deal with this, okay?" Teagan said back. She laid her hands on the back of his neck, bringing him toward her, as she softly kiss his lips, before whispering,"It's you and me."

"It's you and me." Isaac repeated before he kissed her again. He rested his forehead against her, as he blew out a breath. They had no idea what was going on, but at least his shifting seemed to be under control now. He had a feeling whatever was going on wasn't over though. A part of him still wanted to lash out, wanted to give in to the animal inside, but he knew he couldn't. He had to stay in control, he had to stay as human as possible for her. Everything he did was for her.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you to heoch-yea, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Momsen-xxxx, Iris RainbowWolf, xxxRena and Exuberance of Youth for reading and reviewing chapter 30! We both really appreciate it and hope you're all having a great 2015 so far!**


	32. Hope is all We Need

**Chapter Thirty Two – Hope is all We Need**

* * *

><p>"Where are we going?" Teagan asked as she walked beside Isaac down the school hallway, following Avery as she checked around corners and led them for the locker room.<p>

"Isaac isn't the only one having trouble controlling his shifting… I found Scott in the locker room a little bit ago." Avery said in a hushed whisper.

"Is he okay?" Teagan questioned.

Nodding the blonde responded, "For now at least… I flagged down Kira's dad for help and Stiles found us, so I left him with them so I could find you guys."

Pushing the door open to the room she breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw Kira and Malia were in there too. She'd been worried about her entire pack being scattered throughout the school.

"How is he?" She asked Mr. Yukimura, as she rushed over to where he was standing in front of Scott, the teenager was sitting down on a bench with his head lowered.

Teagan and Isaac walked up to everyone else as Scott looked up with his fangs extended and his eyes glowing red.

Glancing over to Avery, Mr. Yukimura reasoned, "It's still happening."

Scott blinked and his eyes went back to normal but he had sweat pouring from his face as he fought with all of his might to stay in control.

"Uh… Malia?" Teagan questioned as she looked over and saw the werecoyote's claws were out.

Holding them up she shrugged as she explained, "I can't make them go back."

"Obviously the virus is affecting you three in a way it won't hit any human being." Kira's dad said as he motioned to Scott, Malia and Isaac.

Teagan rubbed a hand in circles on her boyfriend's back trying to help him stay calm and in control. "What are we going to?" The brunette asked her group of friends.

"We have to keep them out of sight." Avery answered as she saw Isaac's eyes glowing yellow, no matter how many times he blinked they wouldn't go back to his human blue.

"Yeah." Stiles agreed nodding, "We have to quarantine them from the quarantine."

"Yeah, I agree. Where at? They could get violent like on a full moon." Kira said in a nervous tone as she looked between her friends.

Avery rubbed her eyes as the room started to get blurry for a second, as she rapidly blinked her eyes her legs went weak and she almost toppled over but Kira's dad quickly caught her as he asked, "Avery, are you alright?"

"Yeah… I just got dizzy for a second." She said shrugging it off, but as she looked over to the side in the mirror above the sinks her heart started to race when she didn't have a reflection at all. Blinking a few times she finally saw herself reflected in the glass. Not too long after they'd paused the testing, Avery had started seeing things out of the corner of her eyes and hearing things that no one else was picking up on. Leading her to believe she had to be losing her mind again.

Hearing her heart starting to race Scott looked up and said, "It's affecting you somehow too, isn't it?"

"No… I'm just tired, didn't get much sleep last night." She quickly cut him off, trying to get the focus off of herself.

Isaac looked over at his blonde friend, giving her a look letting her know he wasn't buying her story before he sighed and said, "Well, we can't just stay here in the locker room."

"And a classroom is not going to hold us." Malia nodded, looking back down to her extended claws.

"The basement?" Teagan and Kira asked at the same time, before they exchanged looks and small smiles.

"There's too many ways into the basement." Scott argued, his breathing still heavy as he spoke, "We need something secure… where nobody can't find us."

"The vault…" Stiles breathed looking around the group, "The Hale vault."

Scott raised his head, a look of hope returning to his eyes as he nodded, "There has to be more than just one way in… the Hale's always have an escape route."

"Can we find blueprints to the school?" Teagan asked, also seeming hopeful. She figured if they could get the wolves and Malia out of sight they'd just have to wait whatever was happening out.

"I think there's some in the office." Kira's dad turned to leave but Avery stopped him as she said, "We don't need the blueprints, I know where the other entrance is… Derek showed me."

"Is it in the school?" Isaac asked her.

"Yeah, in the basement." Avery nodded.

"That's great, A!" Teagan exclaimed with a small smile.

"Yeah, the only thing is in order to get in the vault from either entrance we need a member of the…" Her voice trailed off as her gaze focused on Malia and she realized they had a member of the Hale family with them already.

"We need what?" Malia asked looking side to side as she felt everyone's eyes on her.

"Someone with a set of a claws." The blonde quickly tossed out with a smile, motioning to Malia's hands she continued, "Those will do just fine."

Stiles blew out a heavy breath and shot Avery a look from the corner of his eye, letting her know he'd caught onto her slip up.

Seeing Scott's eyes starting to glow red again Kira said, "I think we need to go… we need to find it now."

Kira's dad warned them to be careful and to use the stairs through the kitchen to get to the basement since no one should be in the kitchen or cafeteria.

"That's works perfectly… the entrance is in the west corridor." Avery nodded, motioning for everyone to follow her but stopped as Stiles weakly slumped against a row of lockers.

"Stiles!" Teagan called out a worried look on her face as she started to see how pale he was looking.

Walking over to him Mr. Yukimura pulled his sleeve up some revealing a rash that was spreading up the teenagers arm.

"it's happening to you too." Avery realized out loud.

Stiles sighed and pulled his sleeve back down as he looked around at his friends.

"You're all getting sick." Kira's dad reasoned.

"Not yet." Teagan mumbled under breath, but just seeing the rash on Stiles had her own skin feeling like it was crawling.

"I don't feel sick either." Kira nodded.

"I think it's affecting you differently." Her dad explained how he'd managed t grab her test answer sheet and showed it to them. All of the bubbles were blank but she'd filled in circles off to the sides. Looking to his daughter he said, "I think it's affecting you neurologically."

Everyone looked down to the sheet and then up to Kira as she swallowed hard and shrugged.

Avery closed her eyes for a few moments, trying to ignore that it felt like the room was spinning. Clearly, with the way she kept seeing things that weren't really there and her sudden dizzy spells –Kira's mind wasn't the only one being affected by the virus.

**~()~**

As the group descended the stairs to get to the basement, Avery lost her balance and almost fell but Scott quickly caught her and steadied her until she was stable on her own feet.

"It is affecting you too, isn't it?" He realized.

"Maybe a little." She said swallowed hard as she gripped onto the hand rail and slowly started to walk down the stairs.

"A…" Teagan called out from where she and Isaac were bringing up the tail end of the group.

"I'm fine, T! Just a little dizzy." She lied as she stepped off of the last stair and led the group towards the correct hallway.

"Okay, search the walls… it's here somewhere." Avery instructed them.

The group fanned out, searching the walls and even the floor for some sign of the vault entrance.

Several minutes later, Teagan called out, "I'm not finding anything."

"Yeah, me neither." Isaac agreed with a frustrated sigh as he leaned against the wall and rubbed his hands over his sweaty face.

"Maybe it's not here?" Malia asked as she felt the frame around an old door.

"It's here…" Her voice trailed off a she walked over and knocked some items off of a large metal storage cart against the wall as she leaned down and looked closer.

"Right here!" She exclaimed, stepping back as Scott and Isaac grabbed the shelf and slid it out of their way.

Walking up Avery placed her fingers over the small, round metal fixture as she explained, "It's just like the entrance outside… you need a set of claws to open it."

"Yeah." Stiles nodded, "Anyone's claws…" His voice trailed off as he spoke to Scott and nodded towards Malia. Silently signaling they needed a Hale to gain access to the vault.

Finally realizing what his best friend was hinting at, Scott turned to the werecoyote and said, "Um, Malia… can you try?"

"Why me?" She questioned, causing Kira's eyes to widen as she shifted uncomfortably remembering how she'd been questioning her about Scott and Stiles hiding things earlier that day.

"Your claws are already out… I'm trying to keep in control." Scott said as he showed her his hands were human.

"Okay, I'll do it." She said, but out of the corner of her eye she saw both Teagan and Isaac breathing out a mutual sigh of relief and she looked over at them, then back to Scott and Stiles as she continued, "But first, I want to know what you've been hiding from me."

Stiles made an almost inaudible noise as he nervously licked his lips and looked over to Scott for help.

"I know you think you're trying to protect me, but I can handle it." Malia asserted, motioning for them to just tell her already.

When no one said anything and Stiles seemed to be more nervous by the second, Malia guessed, "I'm on the list, right?"

Kira breathed a sigh of relief and Scott smiled as he looked over to Stiles, thinking for the moment they'd dodged the bullet of having to tell Malia that her father was actually a homicidal lunatic.

"Yes… yes you are." Stiles nodded.

"So how much?" Malia pushed for even more details.

"How much?" Isaac questioned.

"How much am I worth?" The werecoyote clarified.

When the basement remained silent Avery answered, "You're worth four million, Malia."

Her brows lowered as she looked down the floor for a moment.

With a look of concern Stiles took a step forward and asked, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She answered with an almost smile, "Scott's worth twenty five million… Avery's worth twenty one. They take them out way before me."

Avery closed her eyes with a small sigh as Malia point to Isaac and continued, "You're worth thirteen and Kira's six… so I'm almost the bottom of the list. Yeah, I'm fine."

Teagan pinned her eyes shut as she lowered her head and tried to not think about how much Isaac was worth on the dead-pool.

"You know, some of the assassins started out with the bottom of the list… working their way up to a bigger payday." Isaac shot back at her.

"Hey… not helping." Stiles argued with him.

Tucking his hands into his pocket's Isaac shrugged with a smug smile as he said, "I'm just saying… her being one of the lower prices someone might go after her before us.

"Can we just try moving into the vault?" Kira spoke up, her voice slightly trembling. She hated getting into disagreements with her friends or watching them argue.

Malia stepped up to the wall an inserted her claws into the metal circle, following Avery's instructions as she told her which way to turn the dial.

Finally a light emitted from it and a section of the wall slowly slid back revealing the second entrance to the vault.

The group of teens walked inside and Avery turned hitting the button on the wall to close the door behind them.

Scott sat down a large cement block and tried to focus on controlling his breathing and keep from shifting.

Avery stumbled over to a wall and slid down to the floor pulling a deep breath of her own and trying to ignore the buzzing in her fingertips. The more time that passed the more unstable she felt, a frightening reminder of how things were before she went off for treatment after her suicide attempt.

Kira paced the floor seeming more nervous than normal, and Teagan helped Isaac over to one the cement support pillars of the vault. Where the both sat down, Isaac pulling Teagan onto his lap as she cuddled up to him and rested her head against the crook of his neck.

Raising her head Avery watched as Malia weakly laid down on the floor next to Stiles, her head on his lap as he gently stroked her hair trying to comfort her.

Feeling hotter by the second, Kira took her jacket off and sat down next to Scott on the block he was still sitting on, and he wrapped a comforting arm around her.

Avery's chin quivered as she surveyed the room. All of her friends were paired off, they all had someone else to comfort them –everyone except for her. Blinking back tears she cursed the mystery virus in her mind, it seemed like it was making her feel things stronger than usual.

Heightening all of her emotions, which at the current moment in time were all feelings of sadness, hopelessness and jealousy.

She was happy her friends were all in loving relationships, happy that they had each other but a steadily growing part of her was jealous that they all got to hold and comfort each other. Over all she was relieved Derek wasn't there, she didn't want him getting infected with whatever was happening to them. But it still hurt that she felt so alone in a room full of loving couples.

Blinking back tears she lowered her head and pulled his jacket around her, hugging the leather around herself and breathing in his comforting warm scent as she tried to ignore the fact that she was feeling more alone by the second.

"You know this is where it all started, right?" Stiles quietly asked the room, as he continued to smooth Malia's hair down and rub a hand up her bare arm.

"What?" Kira questioned, almost jumping out of her skin.

"That's where the money was." Isaac nodded pointing the locked safe near where Scott was sitting, his mind drifting back to the night they'd fought the berserkers at the school.

"One hundred and seventeen million… all in bearer bonds." Stiles continued, breaking the silence of the room.

Kira stood up, feeling too much nervous energy inside of her to remain sitting. "How do you even change bearer bonds into cash?" She questioned picking a jar up with some dried herbs from a shelf.

"I don't know." Stiles admitted.

Raising her head again Avery said in a slightly hoarse voice, "At a bank."

Teagan's fists clung onto Isaac's shirt as she shivered and he wrapped his arms tighter around her trying to keep her warm as he shook his head and said, "I can't believe Peter just let the money sit here all this time… just collecting dust." His mind flashed through different ways of how he'd have spent that money. Most of the thoughts being focused around Teagan and their future together. He wanted to be able to give her the life she deserved, a big house and nice things. She was always stressed out about something and if he had a lot of money over the course of their lives that would be one less she'd have to worry about.

Leaning down he pressed a kiss to the top of her head, leaving his mouth there for a moment as he thought of how all he wanted to do was take care of her.

"Bearer bonds are basically extinct." Stiles continued to go on about the money.

Sitting back down Kira questioned, "Why does that matter?"

Looking around he reasoned, "You know how many problem's that money could solve?"

"For you?" Kira continued.

"Me and my dad…" He admitted taking a deep breath, "The Eichen House and the MRI bills are crushing him."

Avery looked at her friend with a frown seeing all of the stress he was under. Money problems may not have been something she'd really ever had to worry about but she could see the toll it was taking on her friends, and she'd watched Teagan's family grow up with little money.

Nodding Scott sympathized, "My mom does this thing… she writes down all the bills she hasn't paid yet, how much they cost. Then she adds it all up and figures out how long we've got."

"How long till what?" Teagan asked raising her head and looking at him.

"Until we lose the house." He admitted, his voice quiet.

She frowned as she quietly said, "I'm sorry, Scott… I didn't know." He nodded in thanks and she continued, "I know what you mean though, stressing over money is the worst."

When he and Stiles both shot her a look she re-adjusted on Isaac's lap and asked, "What?"

"Teagan… your dad's a lawyer, I've seen your house." Scott argued with her.

"That's not the house she grew up in." Avery spoke up rubbing her temples as the pounding headache grew stronger.

Nodding Teagan said, "Yeah, my dad's a lawyer and we've got money now but it wasn't always like that. Growing up we lived in this little two bedroom house… my mom and dad were struggling to pay off student loans and keep the house along with all of the other bills. It was a few years before my dad really started to make a decent living as a lawyer… no one wanted someone fresh out of law school to represent them."

Glancing down to the floor she continued, "My parents did the best they could and don't get me wrong, it's not like we were wondering where our next meal was coming from or anything. But I didn't have many nice things growing up…"

Her eyes crossed the room to where she saw Avery sitting with her legs crossed under her as she rested her head in her hands.

With a small smile, Teagan added, "The nicest toys I had actually came from Avery." As her blonde best friend looked up at her she continued, "She used to pretend she was bored with her brand new toys and give them to me."

Looking up with a small laugh of her own, Avery asked, "Who said I was pretending? You know how easily I get bored."

"And that Christmas you put two pink Barbie cars down on your list?" Teagan pointed out.

"Okay, fine… that I did for you." Avery reasoned smiling despite the pain she was in and the negative feelings running through her.

A low rumble of laughter emitted from the group of friends, a much needed distraction from the dire situation they were all facing.

"I don't know what's more shocking; Avery Dukate being that nice, or wanting a pink Barbie car!" Isaac added in causing the blonde's jaw to drop as Teagan playfully hit his arm.

"I think the pink car." Kira reasoned.

"That's only because you met the nice version of Avery." Scott argued, causing everyone to lightly laugh again.

He looked over Avery giving her a smile to let her know he was just kidding, but he thought of how far she'd really came since they'd first started talking to her.

Malia adjusted some and let out a pained noise quickly eliminating all of lighthearted mood from the prior conversation. The longer they sat in the vault, the worse everyone seemed to be feeling and what had started out as a hopeful situation of waiting this virus out was turning into a nightmare as everyone; especially the supernatural ones out of the group were deteriorating.

**~()~**

"You okay?" Isaac quietly asked, when he felt Teagan shivering in his arms.

"Mm-hm." Teagan mumbled, as she nodded her head before raising her head from the crook of his neck to look at him.

"You're a terrible liar." Isaac stated with a soft smile, as he brushed a lock of hair from her face. "You're still cold, huh? It's getting worst?" He questioned.

Teagan nodded her head, then laid her hands on either side of his face, as she said,"But you're the one I'm worried about."

She felt tears fill her eyes, as she stared at him, seeing a bit of black goo on the corner of his mouth. She sniffed as she wiped it away, she wasn't worry about the cold that had taken over her whole body. The last time she felt like this was when Allison died, and from the looks of Isaac and her friends, she was terrified a death was coming again. That was what she was worried about.

"It's okay." Isaac quietly said, seeing the worried look on her face. He laid his hands on her arms, rubbing them to comfort her and warm her up. He blew out a breath when he felt how cold she was. Even in a thin coat all he could feel was coldness coming from her.

"Here." He whispered, as he shrugged off his jacket, hissing out in pain as he moved his arms back to pull the jacket off. His whole body felt sore, like he had been hit by a truck repeatedly.

"Isaac.. No." Teagan mumbled out, as he wrapped his jacket around her shoulders. She laid her hand on his arm, feeling his cool, clammy skin, as she said,"You're cold too."

"I'm not that cold." He lied. He glanced down, fumbling with the zipper some until he was finally able to zip the jacket up. "You need it more than me." He pointed out.

Teagan softly smiled at him, as she whispered out,"Come here." She pulled him toward her, wanting him to lay out and rest. She placed his head on her lap, running her fingers through his hair.

She glanced up for a moment, seeing Stiles and Malia on one side of the room. Her head was resting in his lap, like Isaac was in hers, as Stiles tried to comfort her the best he could. Not far from them, she saw Kira and Scott huddled together quietly talking to each other.

Her eyes flickered off to the side, away from all the other couples, and saw Avery leaned back against the wall. She was slouched down with Derek's jacket covering her. Derek was never her favorite person, but right now, she wished he was down there with them so he could be there for Avery.

She quickly glanced back down at Isaac, as he began to cough and shift around, trying to get more comfortable. She ran her hands over his back, as she whispered words of comfort. She was so worried about him, she barely noticed Stiles and Scott getting up and going over toward the entrance to quietly talk back and forth.

"I'm sorry." Isaac breathed out, once the coughing fit was over and he laid his head back on her lap.

"It's okay. You can't help it." Teagan said, as she ran her hands over his face, just wanting to touch him and hoping her touch would help calm him.

"No, I mean, I'm sorry... for earlier." Isaac said. As she looked down at him with a confused expression, he added,"About the college stuff-"

"Isaac, I don't-I don't care about any of that." Teagan interrupted, as she shook her head. She laid her hand on his cheek, as she added,"None of that matters, the only thing that matters is you. Only you."

"It's not that I didn't want to go. You know I would go where ever you go, babe, but I...I can't afford it." He quietly admitted. "When dad died I got some money, but after all his debt was paid off and funeral, there wasn't much left. I'm not even sure if I can afford to go to a college in state, much less out of state." He blew out a breath, as he added,"Then once I saw those brochures to east schools I was terrified. I would never stop you from going, I would never beg you to stay, but the thought of you leaving, the thought of losing you scares me."

"I told you, you're my future. I don't care where we go, Isaac." Teagan said, as she brushed a curl from his forehead. "We'll stay in town. We'll live where ever. We could live in box or-or this vault for the rest of our lives, I don't care, just as long as we're together."

Isaac softly smiled at her words, as he turned his head and pressed his lips against her bare knee. He let out a small chuckle, as he said,"You know it's funny. Money is green and green is my favorite color, yet, I never have any."

"I actually knew that." Teagan said, as she smiled down at him. "I remember that you love green."

"You do?" Isaac asked surprised. He never remembered telling her, only cause it never came up before.

"Mm-hm." Teagan said with a nod. "You are not the only one who has a good memory when it comes to you."

As he smiled at her words, she ran her fingers through his hair, before continuing,"I remember one day in kindergarten, you asked to borrow my green crayon. You said you were coloring a dog green, cause you love green."

"Greenie the dog." Isaac said with a chuckle, as he remembered what she was talking about. "Do you know why I loved green so much?" He questioned.

When she shook her head, he continued,"First day of kindergarten, first day I ever laid eyes on you, you had on a white and-"

"Green dress." She finished for him, as she remember exactly what dress he was talking about. The dress was white on top then went to green at the bottom. She even had a green bow in her hair to match. She remembered it was one of her favorite dresses, mainly cause Avery had one similar to it, but hers was store bought while Teagan's was made by her mother.

She swallowed the lump in her throat as the memory of her mother hit her. It had been awhile since a good memory about her had crossed her mind. She reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek, as she said,"Mom made that dress. I always loved how the skirt would twirl when I spun around. I always felt like a princess in that dress."

"I thought you looked like an angel in that dress. I couldn't stop looking at you." He admitted. "I remember when I got home, I asked my mom if angels were real. Cause I think I saw one at school." He added as he let out a small chuckle, causing him to cough.

"Shh.. It's okay." She whispered out, as she rubbed his back. She lowered her head to press her lips against his forehead. Earlier his skin was cold, but now it was starting to heat up like he was running a fever.

"Teagan..." He breathed out, feeling like there was so much he should say to her. He couldn't help but worry that time was running out for him.

"Shh..." She said again. She pulled him closing to her, as she whispered,"I know what you're thinking, but don't. It's going to be okay."

He took in a shaky breath, as he grabbed one of her hands, bringing it up to his mouth to kiss the back of it. He turned her hand over, seeing a small rash began to form on her wrist and knew whatever was going on was starting to affect her too.

He lightly ran his finger against the rash, causing her to look down and see what he was doing. She frown when she saw the mark. She didn't know what was happening to all of them, but her supernatural friends were getting worst by the second while she and Stiles were just slowly showing signs. Making her realize this wasn't just some random outbreak, it had to be another assassin.

Before she could think on that thought any further she heard Stiles say her name, getting her attention.

She glanced over in his direction, seeing him standing near the entrance after his talk with Scott; who was sitting back down beside Kira.

As Stiles called her over, she pressed a kiss against Isaac's forehead, telling him she would be right back, then gently removed his head from her lap and stood up from the floor.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She asked, as she came to a stop in front of Stiles.

"Not good, but the others are worst." He answered.

"I know. Isaac was cold earlier, but now he's burning up and sweating." Teagan said. "I think this is the work of an assassin."

"I think so too. Me and Scott were just talking about that." Stiles said, as he nodded over toward his best friend. "We need to do something... fast. Find out how they got affected, how to stop it. We just need to do something."

"I agree." Teagan said, as she glanced back to look at her boyfriend and friends; who were looking worst and worst by the second. She turned back to look at Stiles, as she questioned,"What do you need me to do?"

"You're not going to like it." Stiles stated, as he blew out a breath.

"I don't like any of this, but if you have some plan to save Isaac and our friends, I'm on board with whatever. Just tell me." Teagan said back.

"Well first part of the plan.. which is the part you won't like, is we need to get out of here." Stiles carefully said, he had a feeling he knew what her reaction would be. But before she could say anything, he held up his hands as he quickly added,"Before you argue too much, just listen, okay?" He waited until she blew out a breath, then nodded her head, before he continued,"Whatever is going on, we can't solve it down here. We need to go out there and figure it out before..."

As his voice trailed off, she nodded her head, knowing what he was trying to say. They needed to do something before one or all of their friends died. She wrapped her arms around herself as she lowered her head, catching a whiff of Isaac's scent from his jacket. They always said they would never walk away from each other, she wasn't even sure if she could if she tried.

"Maybe you can-"

"No." Stiles interrupted, knowing what she was going to suggest. "We both need to go, Teagan. We can't stay in here, even Scott agrees."

"What do you mean? Agrees with what?" Teagan asked confused.

"We don't know how much worst things are going to get and if they start having problems with shifting again..."

As she began to shake her head, they heard Isaac speak up from behind her, as he said,"He's right."

"Isaac.." Teagan breathed out, as she turned around to face him with a concern look on her face. He was too weak and sick to be on his feet. She rushed over to him when he stumbled. She wrapped her arm around his waist as they both sank to the floor.

"He's right." He stated again. He turned his head to look at her, as he added,"It's getting harder to stay in control. The weaker I get, the harder it is to stay human."

"Then let me stay here. Let me help you stay anchored." Teagan argued.

"It's not only shifting I'm worried about." Isaac pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Teagan asked.

"If something happens... If I don't get better, if I... I don't want you to see me like that, Teagan. That is not the last memory of me I want you to have."

"Don't..." Teagan breathed out, as she shook her head. As tears filled her eyes, she pleaded,"Don't talk like that."

"What's going on?" Avery questioned, as she raised her head when she heard her best friend crying.

"Teagan and Stiles need to leave." Isaac answered her, as he kept his eyes on Teagan. This could be one of the last times he ever saw her and he didn't want to spend a second looking at anything else.

Avery glanced off to the side, seeing Stiles quietly talking to Malia, explaining to her that he needed to leave for a few minutes, then turned her head to look back at Teagan and Isaac. "That's a good idea." She said, as she slowly nodded her head. She knew they all were getting worst and like Isaac, she didn't want Teagan to see that.

"No!" Teagan cried out. She looked over at the blonde, as she said,"I can't leave you, Avery. You're my best friend and I can't..." She turned her head back to look at Isaac, as she whimpered out,"And you. I can't leave you. I don't want to walk away."

"Shh..." Isaac whispered, as he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers. "I told you earlier if it gets worst you need to lock me away." He stated.

She pulled back to look at him, as she said,"Yeah and I told you I can't promise that. I'm not going to leave you alone to deal with this." As he laid his hands on the side of her neck, she cried out,"I can't walk away from you. I-I don't know how to walk away from you."

"Butterflies." Avery whispered out, interrupting them. She laid her head back against the wall, feeling drained, as she added,"Remember butterflies, T. Remember the play. You're stronger than you know."

As more tears ran down her face, Isaac laid a hand on the side of her face, turning her to face him, as he whispered out,"Hey... look at me." He wiped the tears from her face, as he blew out a breath, feeling tears filling his own eyes, as he quietly added,"I love you."

"Don't... okay? This is not our ending." Teagan cried. She laid her hands on her shoulders, gripping his shirt, as she added,"This is not how our story ends, damn it! You're going to be okay... We're going to be okay. I'm going to save you... somehow I will save you."

"You already have." Isaac whispered with a small smile, as he leaned forward to softly kiss her lips.

"And I'm going to keep saving you." She said, as she pulled back a little, her lips inches from his. "It's you and me, Isaac, always. That is my vow to you. Now and forever."

Isaac nodded his head then pressed his lips against hers again, greedily moving his lips against hers, fearing this would be the last time he would ever get a moment like this with her.

When she heard Stiles say her name, telling her they needed to go, she cried out and grabbed on to Isaac, not wanting to let him go. Isaac regrettably grabbed her hands, removing them from his shirt, as he whispered out against her lips,"You got to go. Babe, you have to leave."

"I can't... I can't." She cried out, as she kissed him again.

"You have to." Isaac said, as he pulled back. He brushed her hair away from her face, looking at her one last time as if he was memorizing everything about her. He kissed her forehead, the tip of her nose, then gave her a quick peek on the lips, before saying,"I don't want you to go, but you have to."

He glanced up to look at Stiles; who was standing behind her, and gave him a nod. Telling him to take her. He knew she would never stand up or walk away on her own, she would need help with that.

"Come on." Stiles softly said, as he grabbed her shoulders, helping her to stand up. She leaned against him, as the two made their way toward the door and stepped out. The two turned to look into the room one last time.

Her eyes scanned over all her friends, Malia, Kira and Scott. Then she looked over at Avery, feeling tears fill her eyes at the thought of never seeing her best friend again. After losing Allison she was reminded of all the things she would miss. She didn't want to miss those moments with Avery. She wanted her by her side for the big moments; like graduation, weddings and so on. She needed to be there for every moment.

She turned her head, her eyes falling on Isaac; who was staring right back at her. Her vision began to blur as she began to cry at the thought of losing him.

The two have had close calls before, they had been through a lot together and always came out stronger together on the other side. He was her calm, her safety bubble. He kept her sane before while she fought her mother, and even if the door was shut now, there was no way she would stay sane without him. She would go crazy out of her mind without him in her life.

As if knowing how badly she needed to hear it, he mouthed the words,'It's you and me', as the door slide close.

She stepped forward, laying her hand on the door, as she dropped her head and began to softly cry. If she and Stiles failed, if they couldn't figure out what was going on and find a way to save them, this was it. Their friends were gone, never to be seen again.

"It's going to be okay." Stiles softly said, as he laid his hands on her shoulders, trying to comfort her. "We're coming back for them. We're going to save them."

"We have to have hope, right?" Teagan asked, as she turned to look at Stiles. She knew that is what Isaac would want her to do, to have hope that things would work out in the end.

"That's all we have." Stiles said back. "It's all we need."

Teagan nodded her head in agreement. She turned her head to look at the closed door again, as she whispered out,"It's you and me. Always."

**~()~**

Teagan reached up, using the sleeve of Isaac's jacket to wipe the tears from her face, then wrapped her arms around herself as she and Stiles walked down the hallway together.

"So what's the plan?" She questioned, as she glanced over at him.

"Well, it's more of an idea than a plan." Stiles nervously admitted, as he ran a hand over his hair.

"What?" Teagan called out, as she came to a stop. She grabbed his arm to stop him, as she added,"You said you had a plan!" He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, she added,"I just left my boyfriend and best friend cause you said you have a plan, Stiles! You said you had a plan to save them, you said-"

"I know! Teagan, I get it, okay?" Stiles interrupted, as he held up his hands to stop her. "Do you think it was easy for me to leave any of them?" He questioned. He blew out a breath, as he added,"I get it. It's not easy, but we couldn't stay there. We had to leave. But we're going to try to save them, we're their only hope."

"Fine! So what is this 'idea'?" Teagan asked sarcastically.

"Come on..." Stiles began to say, as he reached out to grab her arm, pulling her behind him. "We need to find Kira's dad."

The two walked into the main area where the CDC were set up and several students were laying down. Stiles pointed toward one area of the room, as he said,"I'll look over here for him." He pointed toward another area, as he added,"You look over there, okay?"

Teagan nodded her head to answer, then turned to walk away from him. She glanced around, trying to find the older man, and heard someone call out her name. She turned to see Lydia's mom walking over toward her.

"Teagan, sweetie, how are you feeling?" Ms. Martin asked, as she reached out to grab her arm and laid her hand against her forehead checking her for a fever. Before Teagan could answer, she looked down, seeing the rash on her wrist. "You should get that check immediately."

"It's okay. It's not that bad." Teagan said, as she pulled her arm away and wrapped her arms around herself. She lowered her head, catching a whiff of Isaac's leftover cologne, causing her eyes to water, as she softly added,"Compared to others, I'm okay."

"Where is Avery? I haven't seen her in a while, is she okay?" Ms. Martin asked.

"She's fine." Teagan lied.

Ms. Martin opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, Stiles ran over toward them, skidding to a stop beside Teagan. The older woman looked at him closely, seeing how badly he was looking, then said,"Stiles, you're not looking so good, maybe you ought to lie down."

"It's okay, have you seen Mr. Yukimura?" He said back.

"Yeah, he's fine, he's helping the other students." Ms. Martin answered.

"Okay." Stiles said with a nod, as he grabbed Teagan's arm, planning to leave the room and find Mr. Yukimura. But as he turned around, he saw Coach laying down in one of the covered areas resting.

"Wait, is Coach the only adult who got sick today?" Stiles questioned.

"As far as I know." Ms. Martin answered. She glanced off at the side, seeing a few students who looked sick. She looked back at the two teens in front of her, telling them she needed to check on the others, but told them they needed to lay down and rest, before she rushed off.

"Why is Coach the only adult sick?" Teagan, asking the question he was thinking. out loud.

"I don't..." He began to say, until a thought hit him. Whatever made the coach sick, made them sick too. His eyes widen, as he pulled on her arm, as he said,"His office. We have to check his office."

The two turned and rushed out of the room, running down the hallway and jerking the office door open before rushing inside the room. Stiles took one side of the room, as she took the other side. They went through every drawer, cabinet or shelf they came across, but couldn't find anything.

Stiles sat down at the desk with a frustrated sigh. There was something in that room that would help them, there just had to be. He couldn't even think about how badly his friends were getting, all he knew was he had to save them.

He looked down at the desk, deep in thought, then lowered his eyebrows as he reached out to grab a stack of papers. He could hear Teagan moving around the room, tossing things aside and trying to find something, but the longer time went on the more frantic she became. Isaac was dying, Avery was dying, and there was nothing in the room that would help them.

"There's nothing here." She mumbled out, as she stood near the door, resting her forehead against the door frame trying not to break down in tears.

Stiles didn't comment, as he flipped through the stack of permission slips. The first few had a bright red 'approved' stamped on it. Then as he flipped through more, the color began to fade until the ink changed to black. He dropped the papers onto the desk, then reached out to grab a coffee cup from the desk, seeing black ink fingerprints on the side, causing him to remember when they all had to use an ink pad on their thumbs before taking the test.

"It's the ink." Stiles quietly said, as he stood up. His eyes still lowered, as he looked at the papers again. "It's the ink." He said louder so Teagan could hear him.

"Stiles?" Teagan whimpered out, causing him to snap his head up. His eyes widen when he saw the test administrator; who is obviously the latest assassin, with a gun pointed at Teagan's head.

"I was wondering how that idiot got sick." Simon, the assassin stated. "I'm also wondering where your friends are. Since in order to get paid by the benefactor, I need to have proof they're dead."

"Visual confirmation." Stiles said, as his eyes flickered over to Teagan's, seeing how terrified she was. He wished there was something he could do to save her, but he didn't have any special powers or training, if he took one step, he knew Simon would shoot her.

"Exactly." Simon said. He grabbed Teagan's arm, pulling her closer to him, as he added,"And you two are going to lead me to them."

Teagan closed her eyes for a moment, trying to remember everything Allison had ever taught her. She could almost hear her in her head now, telling her to stay calm, to come up with an escape route, there was always a way out.

Releasing a breath and feeling more calm, she opened her eyes, looking at Stiles. He could tell she was working up a plan in mind, something to save them and their friends, causing him to shake his head at her. It's not that he didn't trust her, but too much was at stake right now.

Their friends were down below in the vault dying and they couldn't go up against Simon. They needed to try to work with him, maybe trick him somehow for an antidote to save their friends before it was too late. At the moment all they could do was play his game and hope for the best.

"You don't need both of us." Stiles stated. "Let her go and I'll take you where they are." Whatever was going to happen, he didn't want Teagan involve.

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Stilinski." Simon said. He shook Teagan, as he added,"If I let her go, she'll go warn the others and I can't let that happen. There is too much money on the line."

"You're a monster." Teagan breathed out. "Our friends didn't do anything. You're killing innocent people."

"And you're expendable." Simon said back. He pushed the gun closer to her head, as he added,"Don't make me shoot you where you stand."

He looked back over at Stiles, as he continued,"Let's go you two."

Without another word, he pulled Teagan with him as they stepped out of the office. He nodded his head, telling Stiles to walk in front of them, as he and Teagan followed along behind him.

After leading the teens through the locker room, Simon pointed the gun toward Stiles, as he said,"Still a bit feverish, Mr. Stilinski?" He glanced over at Teagan; who he kept pressed against him, as he added,"And what about you, Ms. Young? How's the rash?"

When neither teen answered him, he continued,"You should know something, the virus doesn't kill humans, you'll get better. So don't you think you should tell me where they are? Shouldn't two of you get to live?"

"I saw them in the library." Teagan lied, thinking of the first place that crossed her mind.

"Library?" Stiles questioned, as he acted confused. He shook his head, as he added,"No, it was the cafeteria, remember?" He turned his attention to Simon, as he continued,"Well it was one of those two. Let her go and I'll tell you exactly which one it was."

"Stiles.." Teagan began to say, knowing what he was trying to do. He was trying to save her and put himself at risk.

Simon shoved her aside, as he pointed the gun at Stiles again, before saying,"I'm going to count to three, and then I'm going to kill you."

"Don't!" Teagan called out, as she stepped forward.

"Teagan, go." Stiles stated, wanting her to get out of there.

"No!" She argued. She turned her attention to Simon, holding out her hands, as she said,"You don't want to do this. If you do, I'll-"

"What? Use your hunter skills against me?" Simon questioned, as he turned his head to look at her, but kept the gun on Stiles. "You might not be worth anything, but I still researched you." He nodded toward Stiles, as he added,"You and Mr. Stilinski. I took everything into consideration before I started this. I left nothing to chance."

"You might be trained and you might can take me, but can you do that before I shoot him?" He questioned, referring to Stiles. "Do you really want to take that chance? You're already losing your other friends; do you really want his death on your hands?"

Teagan swallowed hard as she weighted out her opinions. She had no doubt she could get the gun from him and take him down, but she wasn't confident enough if she could do it before he fired off a shot. If she was off by even a second it would be too late for him.

When Simon noticed his words got to her and she wasn't going to cause him any trouble, he turned his attention to Stiles, when the teen boy spoke up and said,"You think you can scare us?"

"No, I think I can kill you. I just thought the countdown would make it more exciting." He said back, as he placed the barrel of the gun to his forehead. "So... One... "

"Stiles!" Teagan yelled out.

"Teagan, look away." Stiles called out to his brunette friend.

"Two..." Simon continued, as Stiles squeezed his eyes shut and Teagan turned her head as tears rained down her face.

Before he could say three, they heard a gun fire. Teagan jumped in surprise when she felt a spray of blood hitting the side of her face. She turned back, scared of what she was going to see and was relieved to see that Stiles was okay.

They watched Simon fall to the floor, after being shot in the middle of his forehead. They turned their heads to see someone removing a hazmat suit and saw it was Scott's dad, Rafe.

"Wha-How did you..."

"Where the hell did you come from?" Stiles called out, finishing for Teagan.

"Teagan... Stiles..." Rafe began to say, as he looked over the two teens in front of them. Besides some blood spatter on their faces from when he shot Simon, they were both, thankfully, okay. "Listen, I got a call from Melissa. I don't know what it means. She said there's an antidote. It's in a vault, reishi mushrooms."

"Wait, what in a vault?" Stiles asked confused, still shook up from what happened.

Teagan's eyes widen, as she slapped Stiles' arm, before excitedly saying,"An antidote. There's an antidote."

Rafe nodded his head, as he continued,"It's in a jar on one of the shelves. She said to tell Scott, it's in the vault."

Teagan turned to look at Stiles, a hopeful look on her face. She grabbed his arm, as she said,"We can save them. Stiles, we can save them!"

Without another word, the two turned and ran from the room. They ran as fast as they could back to the basement where the vault was located. They had a way to save their friends, they just had to hope there was still enough time.

Teagan had to believe there was, she had to have hope. That is what Isaac always taught her, never to give up hope, and like Stiles told her earlier, hope was all they did have. It was all they needed.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- We hope you all liked the chapter! ^_^ Thank you all so much for reading and an extra special thank you to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Momsen-xxxx, xxxRena, SmellYourScentForMiles, Exuberance of Youth and guest for reviewing chapter 31! We really appreciate the support guys.**


	33. Don't Give Up

**Chapter Thirty Three – Don't Give Up**

* * *

><p>Avery weakly pulled herself to her feet and looked around. Isaac was sitting near the now closed door where he'd been since Teagan and Stiles left to try and get help.<p>

She wanted to go over to him, try and comfort him but she knew by the way he was sitting and the look on his face that he just wanted to be alone.

She saw Scott and Kira huddled together on the stone block, both of them going through phases of being so hot they were profusely sweating and then being so cold she could hear their teeth chattering.

Leaning back against the wall she started to sit back down but then her gaze fell on another member of their pack; Malia. Who was laying on her side on the cold concrete floor, still shivering and clutching Stiles' jacket around herself.

Walking towards her with a slight stumble Avery dropped to the floor beside her as she looked at the werecoyote who had some dried blood around her mouth. The virus seemed to be hitting her a little harder than the others.

"It's going to be okay." Avery quietly said, blinking repeatedly as her vision started to fade some.

"Stiles said… he said since it's not just affecting humans, this is the work of another assassin. How is that going to be okay?" She asked her voice strained and weak.

"It's going to be okay because Teagan and Stiles are going for help, they're going to figure this out and come back for us. You have to believe that." Avery said as she watched Malia struggled to sit up beside her.

"He said he wouldn't leave me behind… that he'd come back." She quietly said.

"See?" Avery offered, managing a smile as she reached over and gave her friend's hand a squeeze, "He'll be back."

Looking down to their hands Malia repeated, "That's what he said…" then she quietly added in, "But you don't come back for someone who's weak and injured… you don't come back for someone who's dying."

Avery reached out pulling Malia against her side, and wrapped her in a half hug as she said, "The rules of the wild kingdom don't apply here remember? Stiles is human not a coyote. And he's not going to abandon you."

Weakly Malia laid her head down on Avery's shoulder and whispered, "How are you so sure?"

"Because…I've seen the way he looks at you…" Clearing her throat Avery continued, "He's coming back."

Several minutes later everyone in the vault was steadily continuing to decline as the virus made them all weaker and weaker. Scott raised his head and saw Avery appeared to be asleep with her head leaned back against a support beam, while Malia was against her side her head on her friend's shoulder and also appearing to be asleep.

"Avery! Malia!" Scott yelled causing them both to jump.

He shot them an apologetic look before saying, "You have to stay awake, okay? You need to keep your eyes open."

Avery nodded and rubbed her eyes as everything went severely blurry again and Malia went to hug Stiles' jacket around her when her had made its way into the pocket.

Realizing it was the copy of the dead-pool that Stiles carried, Scott yelled, "Malia… wait, don't!"

But it was too late as the teenager unfolded the paper.

Isaac looked up, holding his breath as he waited for her reaction. Just like the rest of the pack, he knew Malia's name was listed as Malia Hale on the dead-pool.

As she held the paper out in front of her, her breathing grew labored and Isaac questioned, "Malia?"

Lifting her head she gasped, "I… I can't see. I can't see anything…"

Avery pinned her eyes shut as a fear tears slid down her cheeks with the realization that she was also headed for blindness with the way her eyes couldn't focus and kept going blurry.

Swallowing hard Isaac asked, "So I guess I wasn't the only one with blurry vision?"

"No… you aren't." Avery breathed, afraid to open her eyes. Terrified that if she did she'd either still be seeing things that weren't there or the more frightening option of realizing she was completely blind.

At this point all she could do was hope that Stiles and Teagan would make it out unharmed, because for everyone in the vault life was slowly slipping away.

**~()~**

Avery wasn't sure how long she'd been sitting there, with Malia still against her side when there was a knocking noise on the door and they could hear Stiles and Teagan screaming out for Scott.

Gently sliding away from Malia, Avery tried to stand up but she was too weak and her vision was almost entirely gone as she dropped back to the floor and crawled over to the door.

"Teagan!" She yelled weakly leaning on the door as Scott started to slide down to the floor.

"A! Listen to me… there' s a remedy, there's a cure for this! It's in the vault with you, in a jar one of the shelves. It's called reishi… it's…" Teagan yelled as she slammed her palms against the door repeatedly wishing she had a way to get in there and help her friends.

"Mushrooms." Avery finished.

"Yeah, you have to find it." Teagan shouted.

Avery looked to the side seeing Isaac slumped down on the floor, seemingly unconscious from the virus. With a pained expression she leaned her head against the door as her vision finally cut out and there was nothing but darkness.

"Avery!" Teagan yelled.

The blonde's chin quivered and some tears streamed down her cheeks as she could also hear Stiles' yelling out for Scott, as the alpha struggled to try and get to his feet next to her.

"Isaac! Avery!" Teagan's voice rang through the vault as she hit her fists against the cement wall and kicked at it with everything she had.

"I'm here, T." Avery said her voice just loud enough that her best friend could barely hear her.

"Where's Isaac?" Teagan fearfully asked, her heart raced in terror as she waited on an answer.

"Asleep…" Avery partially lied, at this point she had no idea which of her friends were awake, unconscious or possibly even dead.

Teagan looked at Stiles and he looked back at her, both of them exchanging horrified looks and knowing that the cure was just on the other side of the wall but they couldn't get in to help them.

"You have to find the cure, it's in a jar on one of the shelves." Stiles yelled against the door as Teagan fought for her breath, not knowing if the beta had really fallen asleep or if her best friend was trying to spare her the devastating truth that he was gone.

"I can't…" Avery yelled back. When Teagan and Stiles both started yelling at her from the other side of the door she balled her fists up and hit them against the cement as she shouted back, "I can't see… I can't see anything, it's just dark."

Sliding down the wall she put her head in her hands as tears poured from her sightless eyes and she hoarsely whispered, "There's nothing but darkness."

Stiles and Teagan both looked at each other again, but turning their attention back to the door and trying to open it. Teagan's hands were bloody as she repeatedly beat on the wall, her nails chipping as she tried desperately to find a way in.

There were high pitched squeaking sounds from Stiles' shoes against the floor as he put his whole body into trying to bust through the wall, but it was useless. There was only one way in and neither of them had the claws to do it.

"Scott? Scotty? Open the door! It's in there with you. It's in a jar, it's on one of the shelves. Scott! Scott, can you hear me?" Stiles frantically shouted, but the longer they were met by silence the more Teagan and Stiles felt like they were talking to themselves.

"I… I can't stand up." Scott admitted in a voice so weak, Avery was barely able to hear him. Reaching a hand out moved her arm back and forth until she finally felt him beside her on the floor.

"Open the door!" Teagan screamed hitting her weak, bloody hands against the wall again and again.

"Reishi…" Avery and Scott heard Kira mumbling as she continued, "I saw it… Scott, I saw it on the shelf."

Reaching over to where Avery was fearfully clutching onto his arm, Scott placed his hand over hers giving it a squeeze to her know he was there –but he wasn't sure how much longer he would be as he was fading in and out.

A few moments later his hand slid off of hers and she breathed, "Scott?"

But there was no response from him, all she could hear was Teagan and Stiles still yelling and fighting with everything they had to break into the vault and save their friends. And some crashing around from Kira blindly trying to find the right shelf in her own darkness.

Avery balled her hands up into fists of anger at herself, Scott, Malia and Isaac we're all passed out from the effects of the virus. At that point she could only hope they were still alive.

Teagan and Stiles were fighting with everything they had, even Kira was using the last of her strength to try and help. But all Avery could do was sit there and feel herself starting to fade away too. She wanted to fight, but she felt like they'd already lost. All of the intensified emotions of anguish and hopelessness were too much she didn't have any fight left in her.

Blowing out a heavy breath she closed her eyes and leaned back her head back against the wall, thinking this was it. After surviving what Kate Argent had done to her and the alpha pack, even going up against a nogitsune –this was how she was going to die. From some mystery virus the school had been infected with.

There was one last powerful thud against the door as Teagan ran her whole body against it in a last attempt to break into the now silent room as she screamed out for her best friend, "Avery! Listen to me, I know… I know you can hear me. You have to open the door, if we don't get that reishi… I'll lose you and I'll lose Isaac."

All of the strength she'd been using to try and bust into the vault faded and tears ran down her cheeks as she continued to yell, "I'll lose all of you and I can't –I can't lose anyone else. A, come on. I need you."

She held her breath and waited for the door to open or to hear her best friend's voice again, but there was nothing, just silence.

Dead silence.

Stiles looked at her with watery eyes of his own and Teagan's body trembled with fear as she took a step back away from the entrance and forced a breath into her lungs.

It had really happened, each second that ticked by was making it clearer and clearer that one of the assassin's had succeeded. Sure, he might be dead now but that didn't bring her any comfort as she was sure her friends were dead too.

Raising her hands she covered her face and let out a loud, agonized sob as she tearfully mumbled against her bloody hands, "They're gone…"

Stepped closer Stiles pulled her in to a tight hug, sharing the exact same level of sorrow and grief she was. But just then both of their attention was drawn to the vault as the door slid open.

Both teens darted into the entrance nearly tripping over Scott's body, before Teagan saw Avery standing on quaking legs near the button to open the door from the inside. Somehow her friend had done it, she'd managed to go get to her feet and find the switch to open the door.

Teagan's gaze then went to the side and she saw Isaac lying on the floor, his eyes closed and mouth hanging open as some blood ran from the corner of his mouth onto the floor beneath him.

"It's… it's on the shelf… I saw it." Kira stuttered out, clutching onto a metal shelf before her legs finally gave out and she collapsed onto the floor, unable to fight for a second longer.

The vault door started to slide shut and Stiles rushed to Avery's side, lowering them both to the ground as her eyes fluttered shut and her legs gave out.

Teagan's heart beat wildly in her chest as she frantically looked between Avery and Isaac, both of them already looking like lifeless corpses.

"Tegean!" Time stood still as she looked over her shoulder to where Stiles was cradling Avery's motionless body in arms, realizing they were all running out of time. Raising his hand he pointed to the shelf and yelled, "Go!"

Everything was in slow motion and she could see his lips moving but couldn't make out was he was saying, until finally she looked back to Isaac and saw his body move as he took in a shallow breath and she realized it wasn't too late. Time caught back up to the present and she could now hear Stiles yelling at her to the get the reishi.

Darting over to the shelf she quickly located the right jar and tried to open it but the lid was sealed completely shut from years of sitting on the shelf and not being opened.

Letting out a frustrated scream she raised the glass jar and threw it down on the cement floor with such impact the glass immediately shattered and the old, dried mushrooms turned to dust as their powder made it's way through the vault.

Teagan coughed and raised her arm over her nose and mouth, trying to block out the horrible stench from the reishi mushroom powder, as she took a few stumbling steps back away from the growing cloud of powder

**~()~**

Once the powder of smoke died down, Teagan removed her arm and glanced around the room. Scott had crawled over to Kira, and the two were looking better already.

She saw Stiles checking over Avery; who was reassuring him that she was okay. For the most part she was, her vision was back and she didn't feel as weak as before, but feeling that darkness again, the one she tried so hard to keep away was unsettling.

As Stiles stood up from beside her and made his way across the room to check on Malia, Avery caught Teagan's eyes, giving her a nod to let her know she was okay. Teagan breathed out a sigh of relief then glanced over at Isaac; feeling her heart drop.

She had seen him slightly move when she first rushed inside the vault, but what if that was just her imagination? What if she just wanted to believe he was still alive and imagined it?

The rest of her friends were moving around and looking better, but Isaac was still laid out on his stomach and she couldn't tell from where she was standing if he was even breathing or not.

She cried out in fear as she rushed over to him, falling to her knees beside him. She grabbed his shoulder to shake while softly saying his name. She turned him over as more tears fell down her face. She laid her head on his chest trying to hear if his heart was beating.

"Isaac... Isaac, don't do this. Don't do this to me!" She cried out, as she gripped his shirt. "Come back to me." She whispered, as she held her breath, then blew out a sigh of relief when she faintly heard his heart beat.

She quickly raised her head when she heard him take a deep breath. She called out his name, as she laid her hands on either side of his face and waited for him to open his eyes. She let out a breathy laugh when his eyes finally fluttered open.

"Hi." Isaac croaked out. He raised a hand to tangling his fingers in her hair as he softly smiled at her, then said,"I always knew you were an angel."

Teagan shook her head and smiled at his comment before throwing herself into his arms as he began to sit up, groaning out in pain. "Are you okay?" She whispered out, as she held on to him tightly.

"I'm okay." Isaac breathed out, as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his lap, while his other hand rested on the back of her head. He closed his eyes for a moment, relieved to be holding her again. For a moment, he honestly thought he never would again.

He kissed the side of her head, then pulled back to look at her, taking her all in. He lowered his eyebrows in concern when he saw the dried blood splatter on her face. "What happened?" He questioned, as he laid his hands on the side of her face.

"It's okay. It's not mine." Teagan said trying to ease his mind. She laid her hand on his arm, as she added,"I'm okay."

Isaac opened his mouth to ask her what happened, but before he could say anything, they heard Stiles trying to talk to Malia.

The couple turned their heads, seeing Malia standing up from the floor and began to walk away from a heartbroken Stiles. She always said she wouldn't leave him behind. She had always heard Teagan and Isaac promising to be there for each other and was always happy that she had something like that with Stiles. She always thought they were honest with each other, but now she knew better.

Stiles watched her walked past the others without saying a word and knew she felt betrayed by him. He knew he probably should have told her the truth sooner, but he was scared for her. He didn't want Peter anywhere near her.

In his own way he was trying to protect her. He didn't want to chance Peter getting into her head or chance losing her.

Once Malia was gone, everyone turned to look at Stiles, confused on what was going on. Everyone was a quiet for a moment, until Avery finally spoke up, asking what was going on.

"She saw it." Stiles answered, as he held up the list. "She knows the truth."

"You should talk to her." Avery suggested.

"I doubt she's going to listen to much that I have to say now." Stiles said, as he ran a hand over his hair in frustration. He wished she would walk back into the room and give him a chance to explain, but he saw the look on her face before she walked away. The look on her face said she wanted nothing else to do with him.

"You can't give up, Stiles." Teagan said. She felt Isaac pull her closer to him, causing her to softly smile, as she added,"You have to have hope, remember?"

"I don't think hope is going to help this time." Stiles said with a sigh, as he stood up. "Nothing is going to help." He mumbled, feeling dejected, as he made his way across the room and walked out of the vault.

He was able to save his friends, but in the end, he still lost the girl.

**~()~**

After repeatedly assuring her friends that she was okay, Avery made her way out of the school and past where the CDC were still continuing to disassemble the plastic coverings they'd setup on the outside of the school.

As the blonde walked on the sidewalk past the workers she started to try and get her phone from the pocket of Derek's jacket she was wearing, hoping to be able to call him.

But she looked back up to see him heading towards her. She didn't even realize how badly she needed to see him until she'd laid her eyes on him, without wasting a second she raced forward where he easily caught her in his arms and held her tight against him as her feet dangled above the ground.

Closing his eyes he breathed out a sigh of relief and held onto her even tighter with tears stinging her eyes as she replayed everything that had happened in her mind and she understood how close she came to never feeling his embrace again or even seeing him.

She'd came within minutes of death, possibly even seconds and even though she'd survived it, there was still a small sense of hopelessness left inside of her. The darkness she'd worked so hard on trying to overcome had gained a foothold in her mind again.

Setting her back down on the ground he held onto her face as he looked her over, seeing the tears in her eyes he asked, "Are you okay?"

"I'm alive." She whispered, as she reached up holding onto his hands that were still on her cheeks.

He pressed a kiss to her lips before he pulled her back against him, wrapping his arms tightly around her as he said, "I raced here as soon as I remembered the reishi was in the vault."

"Wait, how did you know?" She questioned, still holding onto him and burying her face in his shirt, muffling her voice a she spoke.

"Satomi's alive." He explained, "I found her but she had one of her beta's with her who was infected with the same thing that was going around the school, it wiped out a lot of her pack."

Avery kept her eyes closed and continued to stay in his arms, as he explained how he'd went with Deaton and Satomi to the hospital to try and get help for the beta but he'd died. After they'd figured out that Satomi never got infected because the reishi tea she drank had given her an immunity to it, he'd left the hospital to try and get to Avery and Melissa had called Scott's to help them.

"It was awful…" She finally spoke as she pulled out of the hug and wrapped her arms around herself, "The wolves couldn't control their shifting and it was affecting Kira's mind, and my emotions were all over the place… I felt so unstable like when…"

Swallowing hard she shook her head back and forth looking down as she admitted, "Isaac had stopped moving and I… I thought he was dead. And then I went blind and Scott passed out too. Kira was trying to get to the shelf with the reishi but she couldn't see either."

He watched her with a pained expression as her chin quivered and in a hoarse tone continued, "Even Teagan and Stiles were fighting so hard to get into the vault to us and I just sat there… everyone was fighting so hard and I'd just given up."

"How they'd get into the vault?" He questioned stepping closer to her.

"Teagan." Avery admitted as she thought back, "I heard Teagan talking about how she couldn't lose Isaac… how she couldn't lose me and somehow I managed to find the switch on the wall and opened the door." She started to explain but he cut her off as he sternly said, "Then you didn't give up… you kept fighting and you did it, you're alive because how strong you are."

She closed her eyes again, still feeling the after effects of the darkness in her mind as she remembered the feeling of her life slipping away from her.

Pulling her back against him, she raise her arms to wrap them around him but he flinched and held in a pained noise.

"What's wrong?" She questioned.

"Nothing." He tried to lie but when she tried to hold back onto his sides he had the same pained reaction.

Stepping back she looked down and saw blood on his dark shirt, which he tried to hide from her by pulling his jacket over it. "Derek, you're bleeding!" She gasped as she reached forward and moved the side of his jacket to reveal his torn, bloody shirt.

"What happened?" She gasped.

"I'm okay." He assured her before launching into his explanation, "While were at the hospital there was this assassin… this woman got off the elevator and just started shooting at us."

Avery's mouth hung open as she looked at him and shuttered out, "Then w-why aren't you healing?"

"It's just taking longer than usual." He quickly said, pulling his jacket closed so she wouldn't have to look at the bloody shirt anymore.

"Come on let's get out of here." Derek quietly said as she slid an arm around her and started to lead her towards the parking lot.

Avery walked silently with in, but inside of her head there was no silence –no peace.

**~()~**

After leaving the school, Teagan and Isaac walked into the house, being greeted by Aspen. She had only taken a few steps when her cell phone began to ring. She looked down to see that it was her father calling.

After being in meetings all day, he was just now hearing about what happened at the school.

Teagan reassured him that they were all okay and promised to tell him more about it once he made it home. Once she was done with the call, she walked into the living room, seeing Isaac sitting down on the couch with his head in his hands.

"Hey, are you okay?" Teagan questioned, as she walked over to him and sat down beside him. She laid a hand on his back, worried he was feeling sick again or having some kind of side effect from the virus.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered, as he raised his head to look at her. He grabbed her free hand, holding on tight to her, as he added,"I just- There for a minute, I thought I was really going to die."

"But you didn't. You're okay." Teagan tearfully said, as she squeezed his hand. "You came back to me."

"Yeah, but, after all the times I always tell you to have hope, that things are going to work out, for that moment, I didn't have any hope. I didn't think I was going to make it and all I wanted was to live." He turned to face her, laying a hand on the side of her neck, as he continued,"I was laying there and could hear my own heart slowing down, but all I could think about was you. All the missed moments, all the things we still need to learn about each other. I mean, I know a lot about you, but I'm sure I don't know everything and I want to. I want you to tell me everything, don't leave anything out, Teagan."

"I will." Teagan said with a smile. "I'll tell you anything you want to know. I'll tell you any story you want to hear for the rest of our lives. It's you and me, always, Isaac."

"Always." Isaac said back, as he pulled her toward him to press his lips against hers for a deep kiss. She sat up for a minute to straddle his lap, then laid her hands on the back of his neck, keeping him close to her as she took over.

She rested her forehead against his and blew out a breath, as she softly said,"I have almost lost you too many times. I can't ever lose you, Isaac."

"I can't lose you either." Isaac said back. He pulled back to look at her, wiping the tears from her cheek, before adding,"That's something else I was thinking about. All the close calls, all the times I almost lost you. Then I was thinking about all the stuff recently. The scare, the Liam stuff, the college stuff, all the fights and I realize how stupid all of that is; how stupid I have been lately and I'm sorry. I don't care about any of that, just you. All I want is to be with you."

"You have me, Isaac." Teagan stated, as she smiled at him. She played with the hair on the back of his hair, as she added,"And I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

**~(That night)~**

"What are you doing?" Derek asked, his tone a little hoarse and groggy as he turned over to see Avery was sitting on the bed next to him with her legs tucked underneath her.

When she didn't say anything he raised up farther and looked at her concerned, as he questioned, "Avery?"

Blowing out a heavy breath she shook her head and said, "You bled through your shirt Derek… you lied, you're not healing."

He looked down seeing the spots of blood on his white shirt, closing his eyes he rubbed his forehead before he tried to change the subject. Holding his arm up for her to lay down and slid underm he said, "It's late, let's just sleep."

Stubbornly she shook her head back and forth as she quickly reached down and pulled his shirt up, revealing the dark red and bloody gash on his side from bullet.

He grabbed her hands and pulled his shirt down as he assured her, "Avery, I'm fine."

"Then why aren't you healing, Derek?" She asked, clearly irritated with him trying to lie to her.

With a sigh of his own, he sat up realizing she wasn't going to let this go as he shrugged, "Some wounds take longer to heal."

"But you are healing?" Her voice was full of disbelief as she looked at him with an arched brow.

"Yeah."

"Okay…" She nodded, but her lips were pressed into a thin line as she then countered, "Okay, show me your eyes."

Glancing up to the ceiling he said, "You're looking right at me."

"I mean your real eyes, Derek. Show my your wolf eyes." She pushed, feeling more anxious by the second.

He looked back at her, his mouth slightly opened as he felt like he owed her some kind of an excuse but he couldn't find his words –and he didn't need to.

Her brows knotted with emotion and she nodded as she looked down to the bed, her fears were confirmed. He wasn't a werewolf anymore, if they were lucky he was just human… worst case scenario would be that he was still deteriorating.

"Avery…" He softly said at seeing her expression.

"We need to clean that and bandage you up, before it gets infected." She said waving a hand to dismiss whatever it was he was about to say as she got out of bed and crossed the room to where one of her bags had a first aid kit in it.

Standing up he lingered by the bed for a moment as he watched her sit her bag up on the table, his face twisted with confusion as she pulled a shirt out of her bag but when she laid it on the table it made a heavy thud.

Walking over he picked up the shirt, unrolling it to reveal a few smoke grenades.

"Uhh…"

Looking over she gasped and took them from him as she carefully laid them down and lectured, "Be careful, if you had tripped those we'd have been in a hell of a mess."

"Why do you even have them?" He asked looked at her as she nonchalantly pulled a shot gun from the bag and placed it on the table.

"In case we get attacked or something." She replied as she removed a few other weapons before she finally found the metal case she kept a very advanced first-aid kit in.

He watched her as she opened the case and told him to take his shirt off, he did as she told him and surveyed the weapons now filling up the table.

Leaning down to get a better look, she surveyed the open wound and joked. "Well, the good news is I'm not going to have to stitch you up."

As she stood up she noticed he was looking at her raised eyebrows, and she laughed, "I'm kidding, I mean… I would have stitched you up if I had to. But it looks like the bullet just grazed you."

He nodded watching her as she gather supplies from the large kit and then he flinched as she started to clean his wound as he said with an almost astonished tone, "That hurts."

Glancing up at him she hummed, "Mhm… it's alcohol, it's not supposed to feel good. But it helps to keep it from getting infected… which you need considering you've been walking around without any kind of bandage on it at all today."

"Because I thought it was going to heal." He defended, his voice trailing off slightly as he shrugged, "Or at least I hoped it was going to."

He winced again as she scrubbed the blood from his intact skin next to the wound and some of the alcohol ran back into the gash.

"You've never had to deal with anything like this before… have you?" She questioned, her voice soft and empathetic.

"No." He admitted, continuing to watch her as he spoke. "Even before I was old enough that I started shifting on full moons, I still healed."

Finding the right size bandage she needed from the kit she turned back to him and asked, "How are you handling this… this whole being human thing?"

As she started to tape the bandage down, he admitted, "Truthfully… I hate it."

Stepping back from him she said, "That should hold for now, but you need to change the bandage out daily… don't let it get infected."

He grabbed his shirt to pull it back on and she leaned against the table, watching his reflection in the large antique mirror propped up against the wall before she sighed and asked, "Maybe Peter's right-"

"Peter is never right." Derek cut in, causing her to shoot him a look before continuing on, "Maybe he's right, I mean… werejaguar or not; Kate was raised a hunter. She thinks like a hunter and I trained the same way, maybe I am the one who can find her."

"No, no way. It's no happening… I don't want you seeking her out, I don't want you anywhere near her." He quickly said as he moved and stood in front of her.

"But you want to be a werewolf again and that's not going to happen unless I know exactly what she did to you. I can't reverse something that I don't fully understand." She argued with him.

"Yeah, I do want my wolf back… but not badly enough that I'm willing to risk your life to get it." He said as he stepped closer.

"But I am willing to risk it… because I'd rather have you be a werewolf than human." She admitted, then realizing the way it sounded she closed her eyes and sighed, "I mean… if you have all of your heightened senses and superhuman strength… when you can heal within minutes of being wounded, I don't have to worry about you as much… but human life is so fragile-"

With a laugh he crossed his arms over his chest and pointed out, "I'm not fragile."

Looking up to the ceiling and blowing out an annoyed breath at his stubbornness she argued, "Everything is gone, the healing… your glowing eyes, sense of smell, hearing, speed…" Looking him over as he glanced to the floor she asked, "Your strength too, right?"

Smugly he argued, "I could still win a fight."

"I'm not so sure you could." She countered, causing him to look at her.

"For almost your entire life, you've been a werewolf. You've had all of those things on your side. You've relied on supernatural abilities to win and stay on top but all of that is gone now. You don't have an advantage anymore." She continued to argue with him, seeing he wasn't liking a word she was saying.

"Maybe I don't need those advantages to win a fight." He continued to disagree with anything and everything she said.

"Okay…" She breathed turning to table as she surveyed the weapons she'd pulled from her bag and picked up a sleek black handgun as she laid it down in front of him, "Since you don't have claws and fangs as weapons, you're going to have to learn to use other weapons."

"You know I hate guns."

"Because you don't know how to use them." She pointed out.

Derek crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head back and forth, "Or maybe it's because I've been shot over a hundred times."

"True, but it's a different game when you're on the other side of the gun. Look… this one here is a Sig Sauer P226, it's a 9mm." Avery said as she popped the clip out of the gun.

"A what?" Derek asked with raised eyebrows.

"It's one of my favorites. This gun right here…" She said holding it up again, "Pretty much sets the standard for other combat guns, it's reliable… a lot of law enforcement agencies us these."

Shaking his head he asked, "And that means what-"

"It means that this pistol is easy to handle and with a little training you can get your accuracy dead on. I love this gun." She added in.

"I really don't see the point in this."

"Are you really going to just stand there and be this stubborn?"

"I'm not being stubborn-"

"Yes you are."

Sighing he dropped his arms to the side and admitted, "I just don't like this… I don't like any part of this.

Looking down to her gun she added in, "I don't like this either… but what I'm trying to teach you could save your life, Derek. These skills could save our lives."

As much as he hated it, he knew he couldn't fight her about this. Losing his powers was hard to deal with but he had to keep fighting. Deep down he knew she was right.

"Okay." He agreed as he held his hand out, but she quickly pulled the gun back and clicked her tongue as she shook her head back and forth, "I'm not just going to hand you a loaded gun, you don't know how to use it!"

"It can't be that hard… you just put your bullets in the chamber, point and shoot." His tone was confident but when he saw her trying to hold back either a smile or a laugh at his expense, he realized he apparently really didn't know what he was talking about.

"Typically you don't manually load bullets into the chamber…" She said with a smile as she hit the release button on the side of the gun and popped the clip out. "This is where you load your bullets."

He nodded and she held up the loaded clip as she explained, "The legal clip size in California is ten. Always pay attention to how many shots you fire, so that you know how many are left. Running out of ammo doesn't only make you look stupid, but it can easily get you killed."

Popping the clip back on she grabbed his hand and put the gun in it, but he clearly still wasn't happy about having to learn this.

"Are you listening?" She questioned, a small smile on her lips as she remembered back to the first day Allison had let Avery and Teagan practice with guns during their training.

"I'm listening." He nodded.

"Good, because you said guns are easy, you just point and shoot. But that's not all there is to it."

"Why not?" He asked, his eyes locking with her, a little surprised at how much she knew about everything.

"Because an average person can move twenty one feet in one-point-five seconds. If they have a knife, they can gut you before you can pull and fire. And if your average person can move that fast, you can obviously see why you'd need distance with a supernatural." Smirking at him she added, "So with a gun, you need distance… go for it. Pull the gun on me."

"I'm not pointing a gun at you." He declined trying to hand it back but she took several steps back as she held her arms out to the sides.

"The safety is on."

"Fine." He breathed, as he gave a halfhearted attempt and brought the gun up before he even got it all the way pointed at her, she'd rushed forward placing one hand on the gun to tilt the barrel away from her and the other hand on his wrist to weaken his grip. Within seconds she'd over powered him and gotten the gun away.

"So… yeah, you didn't tell me you were going to do that." He said, smiling both from the embarrassment of her easily beating him and at being proud of her for everything she'd learned.

"When you're a human facing off against the supernatural, you need to be prepared for anything Derek. Human rules don't apply so sometimes we have to bend and break the rules… that's what I'm trying to teach you." She explained smiling back at him.

"Yeah, I'm getting that." He said shaking his head, as he picked up the gun where she'd laid it on the table.

She walked back to where she was to begin with as she smiled at seeing him taking the incentive to learn now; even if it was mainly a result of him liking her being better at something than he was.

This time he tried to quickly pull the gun without warning, but again she rushed forward, this time she grabbed onto his wrist tighter than the first time and placed her other hand on the gun as she bent his arm and wrist and made him point the gun at himself with her hand over his, both of their fingers on the trigger.

He looked down to where the gun was now pointed at the direct center of his chest. With raised brows she nodded to their hands on the gun and said, "Bang, you're dead."

When he looked back up to her she continued, "See? Human life is fragile… you're here one minute and gone the next. You may not want to learn about guns and knives… or hand-to-hand combat but until we get your wolf side back, you need this and I can help you."

He nodding, his eyes locking with her as he quietly said, "I know."

"Okay, so go again." She nodded giving him a smile as she walked back even farther, giving him more distance. But as he tried it again, she did almost the same maneuver and got the gun from him.

Hanging his head he let out a small laugh on embarrassment at how many times she'd pulled the same move and he still couldn't figure out a way to beat her.

"Again?" She asked as she walked back up to him.

"Yeah." He agreed.

Nodding she took a few steps back and motioned for him to go again, but he caught her off guard as he stepped forward and claimed her mouth in a heated kiss that she instantly melted into; reaching up she put her arms on his shoulders and raised up on her bare feet, deepening the kiss until she felt something against her side.

"What are you doing?" She asked, smiling as her lips brushed against his with every word.

His eyes searched her face as she pulled back slightly and he admitted, "You said you were teaching me to bend the rules, so this is me… bending."

She laughed as she nodded, "Clever."

He started to kiss her again but she pulled back and said, "But you never put your gun directly against someone, especially not someone who's been trained in this sort of thing." Her voice was a little airy as she spoke, her eyes lustfully gazing into his.

"Why is that?" He breathed, his eyes moving from eyes to her lips, more than anything wanting to feel those lips against his again, to be absorbed in the intoxicatingly sweet taste of her mouth that always drew him in.

"Because…" She breathed pressing her lips against his for long kiss before pulling back and smirking against his lips as she breathed, "I can do this."

He started to ask what she meant but she easily grabbed the gun from him with minimal effort.

"For the record." She said taking a step back, "The same thing works if someone has their back to you, if you put the barrel of the gun against them, they can easily reach back and grab it. Like I said, with a gun you need-"

Her sentence was cut short with a surprised gasp as Derek swooped her up, causing her to laugh he carried her to the bed and dropped her on top of the blue blanket as he climbed over, his eyes locking with her as he finished her sentence, "Distance, yeah… I heard you."

She smiled as she pulled his face down to hers, thinking the training could wait until the next day because the last thing she wanted between them was distance right now.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- ****We'd like to take a moment and give an extra special thank you to everyone who has added this story to your favorites and/or subscribed for alerts. Your guys' support means the world!**

**Thanks to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Lin148, and our dear xxxRena for reviewing chapter 32! ^_^**


	34. Something Dangerous and Idiotic

**Chapter Thirty Four – Something Dangerous and Idiotic**

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><p>Teagan groaned out, as she rolled over in bed trying to get comfortable, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't. Usually whichever way she laid in her bed it was comfortable, but everything felt hard and lumpy, and her whole body was hurting.<p>

As another moan escaped her lips, she slowly cracked her eyes open and realized she wasn't in her bedroom, but the room did look familiar to her.

Realizing where she was, she jumped up with a gasp. She remember the small room, it was exactly like the room in Eichen when her mother put her in an alternate world. Somehow she was back in Eichen house.

"No. No, not again." Teagan whimpered out, as she climbed out of bed and rushed over to the door. She beat on the door as she yelled out, screaming for someone to come let her out. Something wasn't right. She wasn't suppose to be here, she didn't want to be here. She just wanted to wake up in her own life, in her own bed.

She stood on her tip toes, trying to look out the small window, as she yelled,"Please! Someone, please let me out!"

"Not again. Please not again." She cried out, as she fell against the door. She slapped the door again, her hands beginning to ache and her throat sore from yelling.

She quickly jumped back when she heard the door began to open. Her eyes were wide in fear, scared to see who was going to walk in. She took another step back when Brunski walked in.

He looked at her with a concern look on his face, as he said,"What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting."

"I can't rest. Not until everything is done. Time is running out, but I have to warn her." Teagan heard a woman say, making her realize this wasn't a nightmare like when her mother was in her mind. This was a dream like she had been having recently, the ones from someone else.

It was a memory someone was sharing with her again. Like with the rain, the record player and book, but she didn't know why or what any of it meant.

"Lay back down and I'll give you something that will help you sleep for a very long time." Brunski said, as he pulled out a needle.

Teagan wanted to fight back, refuse to lay down, but this wasn't her dream. She couldn't control anything. Instead she felt herself being led back to the bed, as Brunski ushered whoever the woman was back to bed.

Even if it wasn't her dream, everything still felt real, like she was really living the memory. She felt the hard mattress again, as she laid down. She even felt the small prick of the needle as he gave her a shot of something in her arm. She could feel herself growing tired, her body becoming limp and numb.

"Please don't..." She heard the woman whisper out. Teagan, as the woman, tried to take a deep breath, but it was getting hard to breathe. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get air in her lungs. "Please don't hurt her." She woman softly continued, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Don't hurt who?" Brunski questioned

Before the woman could answer, Teagan shot up in bed, waking up from the terrible nightmare and tried to take in a deep breath, but it still felt like her lungs didn't want to function right, like they were closing up. She still felt like she couldn't breathe.

Hearing her gasping, Isaac threw her bedroom door open and rushed into the room. It had been a while since she had a panic attack, not since her mother first started haunting her, but that is exactly what it looked like she was having now. He didn't know what set her off and he didn't care at the moment, he just had to get her breathing again.

"Hey, hey, babe... look at me." Isaac said, as he sat down in front of her on the bed. "Keep your eyes on me, okay? Just stay here with me, Teagan." He continued, as he saw her getting even more agitated the more she tried to take in a deep breath but couldn't. He grabbed one of her hands, laying it on his chest, as he said,"Just concentrate on me. Feel my heart racing? Just concentrate on that, okay?"

Teagan nodded her head, as she closed her eyes and did what he said, just concentrate on him. She counted how many times his heart would beat in her mind, just trying to keep her mind on one thing to help calm her down until she was finally able to take a deep breath. She held it for a few seconds, then slowly blew it out.

"That's good. That's good, babe." Isaac said, when he saw her take a breath. He laid a hand on the side of her face, as he said,"Do it again. Take another breath."

Teagan did what he said, then took a few more deep breaths, before she opened her eyes to look at him. Without a word, she threw herself into his arms, resting her head in the crook of his neck as tears began to fill her eyes when the horrible nightmare crossed her mind.

"What happened?" Isaac questioned, as he held her tight. "What set off the attack?"

"A dream." Teagan tearfully answered. "I was in Eichen house. I was there again and I-I didn't know how or why and I was so scared."

"Shit." Isaac breathed out, feeling his own heart beginning to race again. He remember last time she dreamed about being there, it was cause of her mother. He pulled her back a little to look at her, as he asked the question he was scared to hear the answer to. "Was it-Was it your mom? Teagan, is it happening again?"

"No, it-it wasn't like that. It was like the other dreams." Teagan answered, as she reached up to touch the puzzle charm around her neck. "Like the rain and the record player and the book. It was someone's memory, but I still don't know who or-or what they are trying to tell me, but..."

"But what?" Isaac asked, when she paused.

"But Brunski was there and there was a woman. He-He gave her something and it felt so real. I could feel her dying, it was getting harder to breathe and I couldn't breathe and I-" She tried to explain before her voice broke off in tears.

"Shh, it's okay... You're okay." Isaac said, as he pulled her toward him and held her tight as she cried on his shoulder. He didn't know what any of these dreams meant, and at first he wasn't that worried about them.

Compared to what her mother put her through, these were tame, but now they were getting worst. Now she was waking up having trouble breathing. That wasn't okay with him.

With everything else going on, they had kind of forgot about all the other dreams and thankfully she didn't have another one until now. But now he wanted to solve the mystery more than ever.

Whatever was going on he wanted it to stop. Whatever was going on, he was going to save her. No matter what, he was not going to lose her.

**~()~**

"Hey dad." Avery said, as she started to descend the stars with a bag of her clothes.

"Avery, can we talk?" He questioned from where he was waiting at the landing with his arms over his chest.

Dropping the bag to the floor with a thud she nodded and followed him into his office, where he stood behind the desk like he always did when he needed to talk to her. To her it always felt like he was wishing he was dealing with a client rather than his own daughter.

"What's going on?" She asked, as she looked around the familiar room and plopped down in one of the plush chairs facing his desk.

"I just wanted to touch base with you… make sure that you're doing okay. You're hardly ever here anymore… when you are you're normally rushing out with another bag of your clothes and things." He pointed out.

Nodding she said, "I know I've barely been home, but I'm doing okay. I've just had a lot of stuff going on with my friends and I've been spending a lot of time with Derek." She smiled at the admission, feeling like despite the grim circumstances she was thankful to be around her boyfriend so much.

With raised eyebrows her dad asked, "Speaking of Derek... and you not being home, at all anymore. Did you move out and just not tell me?"

Laughing she shook her head, "Dad, I think this is the part where you're supposed to ban me from moving in with my boyfriend until I'm either eighteen or have graduated high school."

Holding back a laugh he pointed out, "I'm not stupid, Avery. If I tried to tell you that, you'd have your room cleared out by tonight."

She nodded knowing he was right, anything he told her not to do she ended up doing in spite of him.

"No. I didn't move out… I've just been spending a lot of time at his place." She explained again, hoping he wasn't worried about her.

"You know you and Derek are welcome here right?" He asked with an almost concerned look; she nodded in response.

"I just don't want you to feel like you need to spend all of your time over there, I do miss seeing you and I don't care for you both to be here." He assured her, causing her to smile as she nodded and agreed that she'd try to spend more time at the house.

As they were standing up to leave the room, her dad placed a hand on her back and said, "And you know whenever you do move out… you're taking Annabel with you."

Avery laughed at the idea of showing up at Derek's loft with her cat to say both she and the pet were moving in.

As they walked into the hallway she saw Scott standing just inside of the front door.

"Hi Scott." Avery's dad politely greeted before he headed the opposite way into the kitchen after the teenager gave him a friendly, but almost nervous wave in response.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him with a confused expression.

He looked around, his eyes drifting over the expensive flooring and elaborate decorations before he said, "Don't worry I wasn't listening… well, not really."

She gave him a questioning look and he sighed with an admission, "Well, I heard the beginning of the conversation but then I turned the rest out, I didn't feel like I should be listening."

She shook her head at him, thinking that if she was the one with the werewolf hearing she'd been eavesdropping on people all the time.

"It's okay, it wasn't really that personal of a conversation." She assured him, then asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something… but now I don't know." He nervously explained as he avoided her eyes.

"What's going on?" She asked, growing more concerned by the second with his behavior.

"You're not slipping back into old habits, right?" He questioned, then seeing the stunned look on her face he pointed out, "The last thing I heard before I stopped listening was your dad saying you're never home anymore…"

Giving him a smile; she nudged his arm and exclaimed, "Well, if you'd listened to rest of the conversation you'd have heard that I'm doing fine, I've just been spending a lot of time with Derek –so I haven't been home much. But I'm fine."

"Oh!" He gasped, "That's good! That's really great!"

She nodded, and waited for him to go on with original reason for showing up.

He explained that he and Kira had came up with a possible plan to catch the benefactor by drawing him out through Scott being essentially dead.

When her confusion grew, he explained that Kira could use her kitsune powers to slow his heartbeat down low enough that he'd be considered dead by hospital machinery.

"But you'll still have a heartbeat… strong enough for a werewolf to stay alive, right?" She questioned, fear prevalent in her tone as she stared at her friend with wide eyes.

"Strong enough for an alpha, yeah. She's going to have her mom help because she knows more about this than we do. But this might be our only shot." He explained. He'd been apprehensive to talk to her about it since he'd overheard part of the conversation between her and her dad. He didn't want to be the cause of anything to stress her out after all she'd been through.

"What does everyone else think?" She finally asked after several moment of silent.

Offering her a smile he said, "Well Stiles doesn't like it, but he knows it our only way… and I haven't told anyone else. I wanted to talk to you first."

She smiled back and said, "I don't know, Scott… the last time we tried to come up with a plan on our own we ended up with Liam."

Laughing he said, "True… but I think this is a better plan."

"I hope so." She agreed as she picked up her bag to toss it into her car before they started putting calls out for everyone to meet them at Scott's house.

**~()~**

"Hey." Teagan called out, as she and Isaac walked into the front door of the McCall house. She heard Stiles call out a greeting back and followed his voice into the kitchen and saw him leaned back against the counter while Liam stood off to the side.

"Where have you two been?" Stiles questioned, as he watched the couple walk into the room. After calling everyone to get together at Scott's, they were the last two to arrive.

"We had a few things to do." Teagan said vaguely. Since her nightmare that morning, she and Isaac had researched as much as they could, trying to find out who was responsible for the dreams and what the message was, but so far they couldn't find anything.

She tried not to think of the latest nightmare much. Finding herself back in Eichen house brought up too many painful memories of when she was haunted by her mother. Plus the nightmare itself still made her feel uneasy and at times she still felt like she couldn't breathe normal, but thankfully she hasn't had another panic attack since that morning.

"You two really will do it any time and anywhere, won't you?" Stiles commented, assuming they spent the whole day having sex.

"It wasn't that kind of day." Isaac said back. He nodded his head toward Teagan and couldn't stop himself from adding,"If it was, she would be walking a little funny."

"Oh, my God." Teagan breathed out, as she turned to look at her boyfriend, shooting him a look which only caused him to wink and grin back at her.

"Forget I asked." Stiles said, as he shook his head, trying to get the imagine of them out of his head.

"Are you okay?" Liam asked sincerely when he saw the tired look on Teagan's face.

She shot him a smile, as she nodded her head, before saying,"I'll be okay."

Getting back to the real reason they were all there, Stiles looked over at the couple, as he asked,"So did you bring it?"

"Got it." Isaac announced, as he held up Teagan's laptop. He sat it down on the table where two other laptops were sitting. "Is three enough?" He questioned.

"Depends on how many cameras they have. But I think so." Stiles answered, as he walked closer to the table while the other three stood around it.

"Where's everyone else?" Teagan questioned, wondering where Scott, Kira, and Avery were at the moment.

Stiles pointed at the ceiling, as he answered,"In Scott's room. Kira's mom is there explaining more about what is going to happen to Scott."

"Are we really doing this?" Liam asked nervously, as he looked at the older teens.

"The plan is a-go." Stiles said. "The red bird will be in the nest... The target will be delivered... The..." His voice trailed off when he noticed the others were staring at him. He shrugged his shoulders, as he said,"What? I'm working on my assassin speak."

"Might want to keep working on that." Isaac said sarcastically, causing Stiles to shot him a look back in return.

"But isn't this kind of dangerous?" Liam questioned.

"It's incredibly dangerous." Teagan stated.

"And borderline idiotic." Isaac added.

"Have you guys done something like this before?" Liam asked them.

"Something dangerous? Or something idiotic?" Stiles questioned back.

"Either way the answer is yes to both." Isaac pointed out. They had all been involved in a lot of dangerous and idiotic plans through the years, but at the moment this was the only plan they had. He couldn't help but hope if they could stop the benefactor maybe it'll stop Teagan's dreams too. She believed it was all connected and if she was right, then stopping one should stop the other.

"You don't have to do this, Liam." Teagan said, as she looked over at the younger boy, seeing the nervous look on his face. "We will all understand if you need to sit this one out."

"I'm not scared." Liam lied, hoping he sounded braver than he felt. He didn't want her or the others to think he was too afraid. He wanted them all to view him as a pack member and he knew the only way to do that, was to be involved with pack things. To show them he could be brave and he could help.

"Then you're borderline idiotic." Stiles joked, as he laid a hand on Liam's shoulder, giving it a small squeeze.

"Which is fine, cause we all are." Isaac added, as he flashed Liam a small friendly smile, taking the boy by surprise.

Teagan reached out to grab Isaac's hand, giving a squeeze to thank him, as Stiles spoke up,"If we do this, we don't know what's coming for us. You know that, right?"

"How do we know for a fact that something is coming?" Isaac questioned, as he released Teagan's hand to wrap his arm around her waist to pull her against him.

"Because the tape from Garrett's bag said visual confirmation required." Stiles said.

"Simon said the same thing." Teagan quietly said, as she and Stiles remembered what happened to them the night at school. She felt Isaac pull her closer to him, as she added,"He couldn't get paid until he had proof that you all were... you know, dead."

"It's not the best plan, but it's a good plan." Stiles began to say, hoping his words were true. "If we make the benefactor believe someone on the dead-pool has been killed, but you can't send proof..."

"He still needs to know if the target is really dead." Teagan continued.

"Especially someone high on the list." Isaac added.

"So, if he wants visual confirmation..."

"He's going to have to come get it himself." Stiles said, finishing the sentence for Liam.

"So what do we do now?" Isaac questioned.

"Now I have to go meet up with Chris and reach out to the benefactor." Stiles said, as he grabbed his jacket from the back of the chair. He nodded toward the couple, as he added,"You two can start packing up everything and I'll meet you later at the hospital." He glanced over at Liam, then nodded toward the stairs, as he added,"You can go up there and tell them all we're ready."

"Okay." Liam said with a nod, as he left the room and made his way upstairs where the others were.

As Stiles held on to his keys with his teeth to slip on his jacket, Teagan walked over toward him and asked,"Have you talked to Malia?"

Stiles released the keys and caught them with his hand, as he shook his head, and said,"No. She won't return my calls or text."

"Just give her some time." Teagan said, as she laid a hand on his arm. "She's been alone for so long, that's probably all she remembers."

"Is this suppose to make me feel better? Cause it's really not." Stiles said, as he looked over at the brunette.

Teagan softly chuckled at his comment, as she shook her head, then said,"You didn't let me finish. What I'm trying to say is, she was alone for a while. She hasn't had a lot of practice with forgiveness or any emotions really. We always tell her that you don't leave friends behind and we're a pack and she can trust us. Then we lied to her-"

"For her own good." Stiles interrupted.

"I know." Teagan said. "I know you were just protecting her from Peter, which is a very good thing, and in time she will understand that."

"Yeah, well, time is not something any of us are promised." Stiles pointed out. "The longer she is alone, the easier it's going to be for Peter to get his claws in her."

"Maybe, but Malia is a smart girl. She catches on to things quick and she knows how you feel, Stiles." Teagan said back. "I have no doubt that she is coming back to you." She gave him a small smile, as she added,"She'll never leave you behind."

"I hope you're right." Stiles softly said, as he gave her hand a squeeze to thank her before walking out of the room.

Once Stiles was gone, she walked back over to the kitchen table, where Isaac was starting to pack up the laptops and the other things they needed that night. When she came to a stop beside him, he stopped what he was doing and looked over at her, seeing the look on her face which caused him to ask,"You okay?"

"I don't know." Teagan answered honestly, as she shook her head. She turned her head to look at him, as she added,"Ask me later tonight after we stop the benefactor."

"After tonight... No more benefactor, no more dead-pool..." Isaac began to say. He laid a hand on the side of her neck, flashing her a hopeful smile, as he added,"No more nightmares."

"I hope so." Teagan said, as she blew out a nervous breath.

"After tonight, everything will go back to normal." Isaac stated. "We can go back to worrying about school, colleges... just whatever normal teenagers worry about. We won't have to worry about prices on our heads or nightmare memories. We'll be normal."

Teagan smiled, as she nodded her head at his words, then said,"That is all I want. I just want to be normal with you..." She laid her hands on his chest, running them up to wrap them around his neck, as she added,"I just want our normal. That's all I want."

"And that's what I'm going to give you." Isaac stated, before he leaned forward to press his lips against hers for a tender kiss.

He knew a lot was riding on the plan tonight, but if it went according to plan and everything worked out perfectly then they all would be able to breathe a little easier. They needed the plan to work tonight.

**~()~**

"Hey…" Liam greeted as he walked in Scott's bedroom.

When Avery turned her head and shot him a questioning look, his eyes widened and he quickly pointed behind him the open door as he stuttered out, "They, uh… they sent me up here, they said they got everything covered downstairs."

She nodded and looked over to Kira who seemed so nervous her legs were even shaking, then over to her mother Noshiko, who was standing next to the bed with a worried look on her face. She thought this was all a horrible idea, but she'd rather see her daughter and their friends fighting to survive then running scared.

Liam nervously paced the floor, as Noshiko explained that they'd only have a certain amount of time to bring Scott back before he would actually die from what was happening.

"Are you guys totally sure about this?" Liam finally asked, as he continued to pace the floor.

Avery looked over to the freshman and cocked her head to the side, she hadn't spent much time around the younger teen and Teagan had told her was starting to embrace being part of a pack, but Avery wasn't seeing it for herself until now. Until Liam looked scared out of his mind at the chance of losing not only his alpha, but his friend.

Nervously rubbing her hands together, Kira looked down to where Scott was lying on the bed as she rambled, "I think Liam's kind of nervous… maybe you should tell him it's going to be alright."

Smiling and knowing that Kira was indirectly asking him to tell her that he was going to be okay, Scott kept his eyes on her as he assured her, "It's going to be alright." Avery smiled at them as Scott reached up and held onto his girlfriend's hand.

"So… you've done this before, right?" Liam stuttered out to Noshiko.

"No, but I've seen it done." She explained.

"Which is just as good." Avery spoke up, trying to calm everyone else even thought her nerves were just as frazzled as everyone elses.

"No it isn't." She argued with the blonde teenager.

"Mom!" Kira elxciamed, sighing, "You're not inspiring confidence."

"Good! This is a terrible idea." She reminded her daughter.

"Do you want us to do it without you?" Kira questioned, knowing her mom would rather be there with them helping, then just hoping they did everything right.

Her mom sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, knowing there was no way of talking her daughter out of this plan –especially when she had a group of friends backing her.

Avery looked down to the bed where Scott was laying as Noshiko reached a head over Scott and instructed her daughter, "Place your hand over his chest, like this…"

Swallowing hard, Avery offered a warm but nervous smile to the alpha as she admitted, "I'd hold your hand for comfort or something right now… but then I think the currents would travel through you and get me too."

Scott laughed as he reached over giving her hand a small squeeze and assuring her too, "It's going to be okay."

"I know it will be." She confidently replied as she squeezed his hand back, before going to stand by Liam who looked over at her wondering how she always seemed so sure of everything all of the time.

As Kira slowly reached her hand out and placed it over his heart, Scott gasped and grabbed onto her arm. Liam started to take a step closer, but stopped when Avery grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back to where he was standing without even looking over at him.

"Hold on…" Scott asked, his anxiousness finally showing as he turned to Kira's mother and asked, "What happens when I'm out, will I feel anything?"

"It might feel like you're dreaming."

"Like good dreams or bad?" Scott continued to questioned.

Glancing around to all of the teenagers she admitted, "I supposed that depends on you."

He nodded, accepting the answer even if it didn't make him feel any better.

Taking a deep breath and shaking her hands out to the sides, she placed a knee on the bed next to him and leaned down as she placed a hand over his chest and stared down to her boyfriend.

Electricity flowed from her body into his, and Avery winced as she saw sparks and blue power currents moving all over Scott's skin as his body started to shake.

Groaning loudly in pain, Scott's hands grabbed fistfuls of the blankets underneath him and his legs started to raised up from the intense amount of pain he was in, even though the alpha was trying to hide it for everyone else's sake.

He gasped for air and his body started to arch up from the mattress, he was in complete distress and Avery gasped under her breath, "I… I can't watch."

Liam looked over at her and was getting ready to suggest they go out into the hallway because he was having a hard time seeing his alpha in that much pain too, he'd thought everything was going to be done fast. No one had warned him that the process of slowing Scott's heart would be both a long affair and excruciatingly painful.

But before he could say anything his eyes widened and he looked down as Avery turned her back to where Scott was still gasping for air, and his body was shaking in agony, and put her face against Liam's chest with her eyes pinned shut trying to focus on anything but what was happening with Scott.

She'd seen too many of her friends hurt that way, not only had she and Scott both been tortured with electricity in Mexico, but she'd also seen Kate torturing Derek that way and seeing Kira having to hurt Scott like that was more than Avery could take for the moment.

Liam glanced around awkwardly, both in a stare of a terror from watching Kira slowly kill Scott and also not sure what do about the fact that the blonde who'd threatened his life on several occasions was now huddled against him.

Slowly reached an arm at he patted her on the back, his movements were slightly delayed and unsure. He knew if he did the wrong thing she'd turn on him and he'd already been on her bad side long enough to know it wasn't a place he wanted to say.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity Scott stopped moving and Kira stumbled back from the bed with tears in her eyes as she looked at her boyfriend. Even though she knew he was still technically alive –he looked dead.

Noshiko surveyed the room before she went to her daughter's side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her downstairs to make sure everyone down there was ready to go before they put the next step of the plan into action and called for an ambulance.

Quickly, pulling away from Liam, Avery rushed past him into the hallway without looking back at Scott's motionless body.

Stumbling into the hallway she found the bathroom and leaned over the sink with both hands on the white porcelain as she took several deep breaths.

"Hey, uh… are you okay?" Liam quietly asked as he stepped into the doorway and looked at her with a worried expression. She was freaking out now and he could tell which worried him because only moments ago she'd been assuring everyone else that things were going to work out.

"Yeah… I'm fine." She quickly answered, dismissing his concern as she let out a small, bitter tasting laugh and apologized, "Sorry about that…"

Managing to smile he nodded, "It's okay… I'd take that over you threatening to kill me, any day."

Lowering her head, she chuckled before she turned to face as she felt like she needed to explain more, "It's just… that's not the first time I've seen something like that happen."

When he gave her a still confused expression she admitted, "Not that exact way… but I've seen people I care about… people I love be tortured with power currents."

His eyes widened as he stared at her in shock, thinking that he still had so much to learn about this world that he was now a part of.

Looking down to her left hand, Avery made a fist a few times as she stared at the fingers that Kate Argent had once broken. She'd had more and more trouble with the nerves and feeling in those fingers since her time in Mexico.

Thinking back to what the Calaveras had done to her she admitted, "I've been tortured like that too."

As he stood quiet and clearly in a state of shock, she gently pushed past him and started for the stairs when he stopped her and asked, "If you're just as freaked out as the rest of us are… why did you keep saying everything was going to be fine?"

"Because it will be fine… Scott's going to wake back up." She assured the beta.

He stared at her a for a moment before he finally admitted his fear, "Kira and her mom both said they've never this before and-"

Cutting him off, she said, "It doesn't matter… he'll wake up one way or another. I have a plan b."

"What's that?" Liam asked, curious. This was the first he'd heard of anyone mentioning they had a backup plan.

Flashing him one of her signature smiles she patted his chest as she reasoned, "Well handsome, that's for me to know and you to find out if it comes down to that."

As she turned and headed for the stairs she breathed out silently, "Which I really hope it doesn't…"

**~()~**

After arriving at the hospital, Teagan, Isaac and Avery found an empty room one floor up from the morgue where Scott's body laid. They wanted be to be close by just in case, but not too close so the benefactor wouldn't know they were watching and realize it was all just a trap.

As soon as they walked into the room, the trio got busy getting the three laptops out and getting them set up on top of one of the beds in the room. They were just finishing hooking everything up when Stiles, Kira and Liam walked into the room.

"Everything ready?" Stiles questioned, as he made his way over toward them.

"Almost." Avery answered, as she pulled a cord from a bag and grabbed one of the laptops.

"How do you even know how to do that?" Liam questioned, as he watched Avery plug the last cord into the back of a laptop.

"There's not much I don't know, handsome." Avery answered the freshman.

"Believe it or not, these two..." Isaac began to say, as he nodded toward Teagan and Avery, before continuing,"Used to be huge computer nerds."

"Teagan!" Avery hissed, as she looked over at her best friend. They were suppose to never speak about the time they were into computer gaming. Some of the others found out about it over a year ago and that was already one too many people knowing.

"I'm sorry." Teagan apologized. She laid her hands on either side of Isaac's face, turning him to face Avery, as she added,"But just look at that face. I can't keep nothing away from that face."

"That's right, Dukate, I know all about your geeky past." Isaac said with a grin to the blonde.

"And I know all about your kinky present." Avery shot back. "You don't want to go there with me, Lahey."

Isaac turned his head to look at his girlfriend; who shrugged her shoulders and said,"But look at her face. I can't keep nothing from her."

He softly chuckled at his girlfriend, then turned to look at Avery as he shrugged his shoulders, then said,"It's fine. I'm not ashamed."

"And you shouldn't be, kink master." Avery said with a wink.

"So are we waiting on Mr. Argent?" Kira questioned, getting them all back to the subject at hand.

The man in question was on the roof, tapping into the security cameras so they could watch live feed coming through the laptops as they waited for the benefactor to show up for Scott.

Stiles looked at his watch, checking the time and checking the timer for Scott, before saying,"He should be calling soon."

The group didn't have long to wait until Teagan's cell phone began to ring. She quickly answered it and heard Chris say,"I'm here. Are you ready?"

Teagan turned to look at her friends and boyfriend by the laptops, as she blew out a nervous breath. When she didn't answer, Chris called out her name then stated,"Teagan, you're ready."

She nodded her head, as she finally spoke up and said,"We're ready."

Chris softly smiled when he heard the confidence growing in her voice. She was a little scared and unsure at times, which was how Allison was from time to time when she first started training, but just like his daughter, Teagan was able to push the doubt aside and come through in the end.

Both girls, Teagan and Avery, were a lot stronger than they even knew, which was something Allison would tell him all the time after arriving home from one of their training sessions. She never had any doubt that her friends would rise to the occasion and become amazing hunters, and he completely agreed.

"Try it now." Chris stated over the phone.

Teagan nodded her head at Avery, telling her to check and see if it was working. She hit a few keys, then all three laptops lite up with multiple images from the hospital's security cameras. Stiles looked at the screen, relieved that this part of the plan was working. He glanced up, giving Teagan a thumbs up, letting her know it was working.

"It's working." Teagan said, relaying the message to Chris.

"Good." Chris said back. "Keep your phones on and we'll meet back up soon."

Teagan pulled her phone away for a minute to glance at the timer on her phone. She placed the phone back to her ear, as she said,"See you in thirty."

"See you in thirty." Chris said back before he ended the call.

For the next several minutes the teens in the room took turns in groups watching the laptops. One group would watch for a while, then they would rotate, making sure there was a fresh set of eyes watching at all times.

Avery, Teagan and Isaac had been watching, then when their time was up, they walked off to the side, giving Stiles, Liam and Kira room to watch for a while. Avery laid back on the other bed in the room, pulling out her phone to text Derek, while Isaac sat down in a chair across from her. He reached out to lay his hands on Teagan's hips, pulling her toward him to sit in his lap.

While Avery was busy texting, Teagan laid her head in the nook of his neck, as he pulling her closer to him. He could feel how exhausted she felt. With everything going on lately and the horrible nightmare he knew she was tired.

He wished he could have talked her into sitting this one out, but knew she never would have agreed to it. She was stubborn as hell, which was one of the many things he loves about her.

"You still with me?" Isaac whispered in her ear, wondering if she was still awake.

"Yeah. I'm awake." Teagan softly said, as she blinked her eyes a few times, trying to force herself to stay awake. As Isaac kissed the side of her head, she added,"I'm not missing this."

"Less than twenty minutes to go." Avery announced, as she looked at the timer on her phone. She glanced up to look at her friends, as she added,"If he's going to show, he should soon."

"He's going to show." Isaac corrected. "He thinks the highest person on the dead-pool is dead. He's not going to miss that."

Avery opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could they heard Liam speak up,"Is that supposed to look like that?"

"No. No, it's not." Stiles answered.

"What's going on?" Avery asked, as she sat up. Liam's question got her attention, as well as Isaac and Teagan, all three were looking over at Stiles, Kira and Liam now.

"One of the camera are out." Stiles answered the blonde.

"Where is that?" Kira asked.

"The roof." Stiles answered. He raised his head to look at all his friends, as he added,"Someone's gonna have to check it out."

"I'll go." Kira volunteered.

"Not alone." Teagan said, as she stood up from Isaac's lap.

"I'll go with her." Isaac offered, as he stood up with his girlfriend. Teagan looked over at him, as she added,"Then I am definitely going too."

"I'll go too." Liam stated, wanting to show them how helpful he could be, needing to show them that he was part of the pack.

"The more the merrier." Avery said, as she volunteered to go with the others.

As Teagan shook her head to disagree, Stiles spoke up,"This might not just be a malfunction, you know?"

"I know, which is why I'm going too." Avery pointed out.

"You should stay." Teagan argued with her best friend. "If something else happens to the feed, maybe you can fix it. Besides Stiles can't watch all the laptops at once."

Avery folded her arms across her chest with a sigh. She hated to be left behind, especially when her friends and pack members were rushing off to who knows what, but she knew Teagan had a point.

As Teagan turned to walk away, Avery called out her name, causing her to turn around. The brunette shook her head, as she said,"I know you're worried and want to go too, but-"

"No, that's not what I was going to say." Avery said, as she grabbed her bag and reached into, pulling out a smoke grenade. She laid it in her best friend's hand, as she said,"Just in case you need to make a quick escape."

"Thanks." Teagan said with a nod. She went to turn around until she noticed Avery was still holding her hand, she turned back around to look at her, as the blonde added,"Be careful."

Teagan nodded her head, promising she would, then turned and walked out of the room with the others, causing Avery to blow out a nervous breath, hoping her friends would be okay.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks to xxXWolfsLullaby, Momsen-xxxx, xxxRena, DancingDorisDay, and Maze for reading and taking the time to leave a review. We really appreciate the support, more than you guys know! ^_^**

**Don't forget to follow us both on Tumblr, for Blue Moon related content and more. The links are up on our profiles.**


	35. What I Should've Done

**Chapter Thirty Five – What I Should've Done**

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><p>Stiles looked up from the three computers with live feeds from the surveillance cameras still running, his attention was then drawn over to Avery who was pacing the floor at a rapid rate.<p>

"Hey… they're going to be fine." He assured her.

Looking up from the timer she still had running on phone showing how long they had left to wake Scott up before they couldn't bring him back she scoffed, "Who exactly? Our friends who just raced off to the roof to fight god knows what? Or Scott, who's currently lying lifeless in the morgue?"

"All-all of them." He stuttered out.

"Yeah, because we really just have the best luck in keeping our friends alive department." She unintentionally snapped.

Closing her eyes she breathed out an apology and then said, "I think I should go check on them…"

But just as she reached the door of the room Stiles called out, "Are you really that worried about them or is this about not wanting to be alone with me?"

Slowing to a stop she looked down to the floor, taking a deep breath as she slowly turned around and smiled as she said, "You're one of my best friends, why wouldn't I want to be in here with you?"

"So we're okay?" Stiles asked, his eyes going from the computer screens back up to her.

"Totally fine… we're great." She said, with a smile as she turned and started to leave but again his words stopped her.

"So you don't look at me and still see the nogitsune, or think about what that thing did to you?"

Her blood ran cold as she came to a stop, only this time she didn't turn around as she stared straight ahead out of the open door way

"Look… I know what it did to you, okay? When the nogitsune fed from your I could feel everything and I tried to stop it, but I couldn't." He said before he pulled in a deep breath and said, "I'm so sorry."

Spinning around she crossed her arms over her chest and she said, "I don't want you to apologize for that, I know none of that was really you. But I remember that night in the basement at Eichen, Sitles. And I told you… I screamed for you to stay awake and not let that thing back inside of you, but you didn't listen to me."

"No, I didn't listen to you because if I had listened you'd be dead right now, Avery." He said, as he neglected the cameras and stepped closer to her.

Rolling her eyes she pointed out, "You don't get it… the whole time you were in Eichen, Scott and everyone else was working on a way to save you. If you hadn't let the nogitsune back in, if you'd just held out a little longer –you could have gotten out of that chair and made a break for it. Scott would have saved you and…"

Her voice trailed off as she shook her head back and forth, with tears stinging at her eyes.

"And what?" Stiles pushed, knowing what she was going to say.

A tear slid down her cheek as she admitted, "And Allison would still be alive."

Swallowing hard he looked down his eyes burning with tears as he pointed out, "Maybe, maybe not… but you would be dead. That guy was literally an inch away from drilling into your skull."

"Yeah?" She breathed in a defeated tone, "I honestly think that would have been less painful than losing Allison."

Closing his eyes for a moment he sighed, not sure what to say until she admitted in a hoarse voice, "I should have done something… I was right there when it happened. She, uh… Allison was looking at me when it happened. She'd just killed one of the oni and saved Isaac and I was so proud of her and she was proud of herself too. She looked over at me and she had this look on her face like everything was going to be okay, like she'd just solved and we were going to fine. And then her eyes sort of glossed over th-the… the smile fell from her lips and I know something was wrong. Then I looked down and I saw it… I saw that demon with it's blade stuck through her and she was still looking at me and I'll never forget that moment, I'll never forget that look in her eyes. It happened so quick, but for those seconds everything stood completely still and I saw it all, it happened so fast that I don't even think she realized what was going on… she looked confused." Tears ran down her cheeks as she shook her head and wrapped her arms around herself as her body slightly trembled.

"I should have done something… but I just stood there." She breathed, her chin quivering as she spoke. Ever since the day she'd been in the vault at school infected with that virus, she'd been having some of her dark thoughts back. No matter how hard she tried to stay positive or not think about everything that had happened, the thoughts would creep back on.

"What happened to Allison… that is not on you." He tried to say but she avoided his eyes, he spoke louder, "Avery, listen to me… what happened to her it was not your fault."

Slowly she nodded, knowing he was right but also she was painfully aware that a small part of her would always blame herself for her friend's death.

"And as for me…" Stiles added as he stepped closer to her, "I know you still look at me and see the nogitsune… but I'm back, it's all me now and I would never do anything to hurt you."

She nodded drying the last of the tears from her cheeks as she said, "I know that… and I'm working through it, I'm still working through a lot of things."

Stepping forward he wrapped her in a warm, friendly embrace breathing a sigh of relief when she didn't tense up or back away from him. When she hugged him back it finally felt like they were their old selves again; like they were friends now that the air was cleared.

**~()~**

Isaac pushed the door to the roof open and rush outside with his girlfriend, Kira and Liam walking out behind him. At first glance everything looked fine, it seemed like nothing was wrong and they didn't see anyone on the roof, but they knew something had to be around, a camera didn't just stop working for no reason.

"Should we split up?" Liam suggested.

"I don't know if that is a good idea." Teagan said back.

"Maybe not, but it's the only way to cover more of the area quicker." Isaac pointed out. He glanced down at the timer on his phone, as he added,"We don't have time to spend up here looking around for something that may or may not be up here."

"We'll check over here." Kira said, as she grabbed the sleeve of Liam's jacket, pulling him toward her as they walked off to the side to check another area of the roof.

Isaac laid a hand on the small of Teagan's back, leading her across the roof as they searched for what messed with the camera. The two didn't say much, as Isaac used all his super senses to locate trouble.

When he saw Teagan yawning out of the corner of his eye, he let out a quiet sigh, causing her to look over at him, asking him what was wrong.

"You're tired." Isaac answered. "These dreams are getting to you. Once again dreams are tearing you down and I can't stop it."

"Hey..." Teagan softly said, as she reached out to grab his arm. She turned him to face her, seeing the concern look on his face, as she said,"It's okay. Yeah I'm tired and confused as hell about what the message is, but I promise I'm okay." She laid a hand on the side of his face, as she softly added,"I'm not going to slip away from you again."

Isaac leaned forward, resting his forehead against hers with a sigh. He laid his hands on either side of her neck, just needing to touch her, to keep her close to him. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, he caught a whiff of something. A scent he had smelled before, a scent that started back in Mexico and then any time they went up against berserkers.

Isaac pushed Teagan behind him, as he let out a low growl and began to glance around. Sensing danger, Teagan reached into her coat pocket pulling out a ring dagger. She opened her mouth to ask Isaac what he was picking up and from where, but before she could ask, her question was answered as she saw a berserker walking toward them.

She blew out a nervous breath, knowing if berserkers were around, that meant Kate wasn't far away. She gripped the dagger in her hand, then took a step up to stand beside Isaac. The two turned their heads to look at each other, saying everything they needed to say in one look.

Isaac turned his head back to look at the berserker, letting out another growl as his eyes flashed. He raced over to the huge creature, quickly ducking as he tried to hit him, then threw out a punch, hitting the berserker as hard as he could in his stomach. But even with all of his super strength, hitting one of them still almost broke his hand.

Isaac shook his hand, feeling it instantly heal, then began to throw out a few more punches, while Teagan circled around to attack the berserker from behind. She raised the dagger to stab him, but before she could do anything, he turned around to back hand her which caused her to fall to the ground.

Isaac glanced over at her for a moment, seeing her gave him a nod to let him know she was okay, before he went after the berserker again. While they were fighting, Teagan got up on her hands and knees to crawl over toward her dagger, which got knocked out of her hand when the berserker hit her, but before she could grab the dagger it got kicked to the side while Isaac was fighting the creature.

Teagan stood up, glancing around to look for another weapon. Allison always taught them to be aware of their surroundings. If you lose your weapon, look around for another one. Almost anything can be used in a fight.

Seeing a metal chain laying off to the side, she ran over toward it and picked it up. She called out to Isaac, as she tossed one end of the chain toward him. Once he had it in his hands, she let go of it and watched as he quickly circled around the berserker, wrapped the chain around his body.

Seeing that the chain was tying the berserker down, a smile appeared on her face, which quickly went away when she saw him get one of his arms loose. She tried to yell out to warn Isaac, but before she could, the berserker grabbed on to the chain and swung Isaac around, causing him to slam into the corner of a wall so hard some of the concrete broke off and fell down to the ground on top of Isaac's body.

Not seeing her boyfriend getting up as quickly as he usually would, she forgot all about the fight and ran over to him. She kneeled down in front of the rubble, pushing the concrete aside to get to him. As he began to sit up, she breathed out a sigh of relief at seeing him move around some. She laid her hands on either side of his face, as she asked him if he was okay.

Isaac nodded her head and opened her mouth, planning to tell her he was fine. That it stunned him more than anything, but before he could utter a word, he felt his eyes widen as something stabbed him in the back.

Teagan gasped in surprise as she looked down and saw her dagger deeply embedded in his back, causing the front and back of his shirt to turn red with blood. She glanced over his shoulder, seeing that the beserker had thrown the dagger at Isaac.

Isaac leaned forward, resting his forehead against her shoulder with a pained groan, as he whimpered out,"You have to get it out. Teagan, pull it out."

She nodded her head, as she reached back to grabbed the handle of the dagger. She quickly apologized to him before she yanked the dagger out with one tug before dropped the bloody weapon to the ground, as he latched on to her trying to breathe through the horrible pain he was in.

She laid a hand on the back of his head, keeping him close to her, and knew she had to get him out of there so he could heal before the berserker hurt him worst than it already did. She reached into her pocket, pulling out the smoke grenade Avery gave her earlier.

Teagan pulled the pin then tossed it over toward the berserker. Once the white smoke began to rise, she stand up, pulling Isaac with her. She yelled out for Kira and Liam, telling them to run as she and Isaac made their way toward the door and quickly exited the roof.

Once inside the building, Isaac leaned against the wall, placing his hand over the wound with a pained look on his face. He could feel it healing, but it still hurt like hell. Teagan grabbed the bottom of his shirt, preparing to lift it to see how badly it was, but before she could, the door opened again and she jumped in front of him, worried it was a berserker coming after them, then breathed a sigh of relief when she realized it was just Liam and Kira.

She asked them if they were okay, then after leaning they were, she turned her attention back to Isaac until he lifted his head, as he heard something coming from a few floors below them.

"What's wrong?" Teagan asked him, when she saw the look on his face.

"It's Melissa. She's screaming for help." Isaac said, as he pushed off from the wall to stand up straight.

"Is she okay?" Teagan asked, worried something was wrong with the older woman.

Isaac shook his head, as he said,"She's not calling out for herself. Someone is hurt."

"Let's go." Teagan said, as she grabbed her boyfriend's hand.

"Wait." Isaac said, as he pulled out his phone, seeing all the missed messages from Stiles, but more importantly seeing they were only minutes away before bringing Scott back. He looked up at her, as he shook his head and said,"We're running out of time."

Seeing the timer on her own phone, Kira spoke up,"We have to get back to Scott."

"But... Melissa.." Teagan breathed out.

"I'll go to her. I'll help her." Isaac said. He hated splitting up with her, but with time running out it was the only thing they could do.

"You're hurt." Teagan pointed out. They weren't sure what he would be running into. It could be more berserkers or even Kate herself.

"I'll go with him." Liam volunteered, seeing how worried Teagan was; but sending the two boys off along did nothing to ease her mind.

"It's going to be okay." Isaac stated when he saw the look on her face. He laid a hand on the side of her neck, giving her a quick kiss, as he whispered,"I'm coming back to you."

Teagan nodded her head, telling him to be careful. She glanced over at Liam, telling him the same thing. She watched the boys rush off in the direction they heard Melissa.

She glanced down when she felt Kira grab her hand, then looked over at her, seeing Kira staring down at her phone, watching the time get closer and closer to zero. They had to move now or could risk losing Scott forever.

"It's going to be okay." Teagan said to the other girl, repeating Isaac's words from earlier.

Kira gave her a small nod, hoping her words were true as the two girls turned and ran down the hall, making their way toward Scott and hoping they weren't too late.

**~()~**

The calmness of the moment was ruined for the teens when the lights all clicked off in the hospital.

"What the hell is going on?" Avery breathed as she stepped back.

Stiles raced over to the computers and exclaimed, "Damn it! We've lost all of the video feels… every single one."

"Which means we have no eyes covering the hospital." Avery realized as she ran towards the door as the generators kicked on. The low lighting of the hallway cast an eerie glow over the walls as hospital staff rushed to and from room, checking on patients.

"This is never a good sign…" Stiles breathed as he caught up to Avery right inside of the room.

"I know, we need to find everyone and fast." She said grabbing onto his arms as the two darted out into the hallway right as Chris Argent walked by.

Startled he whirled around and drawing his gun, which Avery quickly and instinctively knocked from his hands, he started to draw his second gun before he realized it was only Stiles and Avery.

"Sorry." She apologized flashing him a small smile, "It's a habit."

As she handed him the gun she'd knocked onto the floor he smiled proudly as he pointed out, "It's a good habit to have."

She smiled back and then they got right down business as Stiles explained to him, "The powers out in the whole building and I lost all of the cameras."

"You both stay with Scott, and text me if you see anything see or hear anything." He instructed, as he pulled his sleeve up to look at his watch and saw they were down to about eighteen minutes of time left to save the alpha.

Looking to the blonde teen he questioned, "Do you have a gun on you?"

"No." She admitted, sadly most of the weapons she carried with her were now all at Derek's loft and she didn't have anything to get from her car before they went inside.

Handing her the gun she'd knocked out of his hand he said, "Take this, be careful and stay with Scott."

"I'm coming with you." Avery asserted stepping forward as she tucked the gun into the waist band of her jeans, but he stopped her as he showed the watch and pointed out, "We're running out of time, you need to stay with Scott."

She opened her mouth to argue but before she could he walked away.

To the morgue." Stiles breathed as grabbed Avery's arm and they friends raced down the hallway, once they were in the right room. Avery quickly located the door they'd put Scott's body onto and she opened, relieved to see he was still there.

The generators continued to click on and off, leaving them in near pitch blackness for a few seconds before the lights would click back on with an almost strobe light effect.

Avery stared down to her phone swallowing hard as she realized they were really starting to run out of time, as Stiles paced the floor and called Chris Argent –but the hunter wouldn't answer his phone.

"Come on, Argent… answer the phone. Why are you not answering the phone… come on! Come on!" Stiles breathed out, as he continued to pace the floor of the morgue.

"Okay this is crap… we don't have to sit and around and wait. I'm going out there." Avery called over her shoulder as she walked out of a side door of the room not giving Stiles the chance to argue with her.

She'd barely made it a few steps out into the hallway when she heard a thud from the morgue and she could hear Chris Argent telling Stiles to run.

Quickly she darted down the hallway and headed towards the next hallway over where there was another entrance to the room.

She could hear Kate telling Stiles to get out of the way as she said she was taking the body with her.

"Why? For visual confirmation?" Stiles asked as he protectively moved sideways blocking the door that was holding Scott's body.

"Don't worry handsome, I'm not the benefactor." She taunted, as she took a few steps closer and repeated, "Now move; I'm taking Scott's body."

Avery looked down to her trembling hands, taking a deep breath she somehow managed to steady her nerves enough to retrieve the gun Chris Argent had given her. In one quick movement she kicked on one of the swinging doors to the room and jumped inside before she lost her nerve.

Kate quickly spun around, but Avery took her by surprise as she delivered a powerful kick that knocked her to ground, but it only took moments for her to be back on her feet as she tried to overpower the teen but Avery got her gun centered underneath Kate's chin. Her trigger finger twitched slightly as she thought of how easily it would be to kill the source of her darkest nightmares. Even a werejaguar couldn't heal from a fatal shot like that.

Kate smiled and she let out a laugh as Avery said, "Get out of here… you're not touching Scott."

She heard footsteps and knew that both Stiles and Chris were stepping up behind her a she kept her stance defensive with her gun still in the same fatal position.

"Someone's been training…" Kate taunted before she smirked and said, "You sure you can pull that trigger fast enough, Avery."

The teens jaw tensed in anger, but she kept her arm steady.

Kate's eyes drifted down to the blonde's left wrist where she still had her arm up from blocking a hit and she continued to taunt, "Your scars healed up nicely."

"Kate, stop it." Chris ordered his younger sister as he carefully stepped up beside the teenager, making sure to not set her off.

Avery took in a shallow breathed as her eyes locked with Kate's and for a moment her mind drifted back to the night Kate had taken her and tortured her for leverage with Derek to find out that Peter was the alpha.

Blowing out the breath she continued to stare at her as she reminded herself that she needed to plot her next move from a vantage point of strategy and not emotion.

Feeling the hate and rage pouring off of the blonde, Kate diverted her eyes over to her bother and asked, "You're really going to let her kill me?"

"She's not going to kill you." Chris confidently said, as Stiles mumbled something under his breath and repeatedly started to text and try calling Teagan's phone to get Kira into the morgue as the clock on Scott's life was slowly ticking away.

Kate scoffed, until her brother added in, "Not unless you give her a reason to."

"You can't feel what she's feeling…" Kate argued, her eyes drifting back to Avery as she admitted, "I can."

Carefully taking another step closer and hoping the confidence and trust he had put in the teenager wasn't misplaced he tried to explain, "Avery knows the difference between-"

But the blonde cut him off, "Between revenge and retribution. Come on, Kate… let's be smart here. If I were making these decisions strictly from an emotional standpoint your blood and brain matter would have added a splash of color to these awful white walls by now."

Stiles checked the time on his phone and realized they were almost down to five minutes and he still couldn't get ahold of any of his friend's who'd take off for the roof.

"Okay…" He breathed, knowing they needed to get Kate out of the room he said, "Obviously you guys all still have a lot to talk about. So might I suggest taking this out to the hallway… maybe by the vending machines or to get some coffee?"

"Kate we have a plan." Chris said, as Avery nodded in agreement.

"And if killing Scott was part of it… you're worse than me." Kate countered.

"He's telling the truth. We're trying to get to the benefactor." Stiles cut in as he anxiously tried Kira's phone this time, but still couldn't get an answer.

"You're on the list too… worth more than most, so just let us work through our plan." Avery argued with her.

With a small smirk at how the teen was trying so desperately to cover up the state of terror she was in from being face-to-face with her Kate reasoned, "Not more than you."

"It doesn't matter… assassins aren't starting at the top of the list, they're picking and choosing who to take out." Chris explained.

"And that is why I'm here!" Kate hissed at her brother.

"Then let us do what we planned!" Chris yelled back at her as he reached out and tried to pry his sisters hand from the teenagers left arm from where the pair had been fighting and then froze when Avery pulled the gun.

Her eyes stopped on his cellphone watch which was on a countdown with only about three minutes left to go.

Through gritted teeth Avery snapped, "So take your giant animal skeleton freaks with you and go. I won't tell you again, last chance to walk away." Her hand was now completely steady, her finger resting weightlessly on the trigger ready to do what he had to do to protect her friends.

Kate heard the steady beat of Avery's heart and knew she was telling the truth, and judging by the countdown she'd seen on her brothers watch something was happening in just a few minutes.

"Kate please, we have a plan." Chris made one last, desperate attempt to get through to her.

Finally she stepped back surveying them one last time before she turned and left the room.

Avery let out a breath that she wasn't even aware she'd been holding as her formally steady hand started to almost violently shake from her nerves.

Quickly getting the gun away from her, he put the safety on and tucked it away in his jacket pocket as he leaned down slightly, placing his hands on her shoulders and asked, "Are you okay?"

Her mouth opened but no real words came out, she mainly stuttered through some barely audible noises with a slightly broken look in her eyes.

Chris looked at her with a pained look of his own, he knew all of the torturous pain and the hell Kate had put Avery through, his sister had almost killed the teenager. But she'd managed to hold it together during the confrontation, she'd kept a level head and because of that he wasn't going to have to bury another member of his family.

"Thank you." He said as he looked her in the eyes.

Finally finding her voice she hoarsely said, "I didn't do that for her."

"I know." He nodded in complete understanding.

"I let her live because I need her alive to find out what she did to Derek… and I let her live because you've lost too much of your family." A solitary tear, laced with her mascara rolled down her left cheek as she breathed out, "But I don't know if I can do that again."

Without another word he stood up and pulled her trembling body into his arms in a comforting hug as he thanked her again.

Stiles finally shoved his phone into his pocket with a frustrated groan as even the calls to Liam's phone and the texts he'd sent Isaac were going unanswered. At this point he could only hope they were all still alive and that whatever they'd came across on the roof hadn't killed them all. But now he had no idea how they were going to bring Scott back.

With just under two minutes left on the clock the doors flew open as Kira and Teagan raced into the room, once they'd gotten inside they'd split from Liam and Isaac who went the other way when their werewolf hearing picked up on Scott's mom screaming out for help.

Both girls were a little bruised and bloody, but they were okay. Something that Stiles breathed in relief for before he looked to Kira and asked and pointed out, "You were almost too late."

Seeing Chris Argent still hugging and trying to comfort Avery who didn't even turn around when she heard the doors open, Teagan fearfully started towards them as she asked, "What happened?"

"Kate happened." Stiles quickly answered as she flung the door and slid the body tray that his seemingly lifeless best friend was laying out from the body cooler.

"Oh my god…" Teagan breathed as she rushed to Avery side as she stepped back from the hug and assured her, "I'm okay…"

Smiling at the two girls who reminded him of Allison more and more everyday he proudly said, "She did great."

Teagan wanted to ask more about what happened but they didn't have time as the cellphone watch on Chris' wrist started to beep at the one minute mark, with a following been for every second that ticked away.

"You're up Kira." Avery said as she stepped across the table from her.

Nodding the kitsune placed her hand on Scott's ice cold chest and focused power on him, his body twitched from the currents and the metal underneath him started to spark but he didn't appear to be waking up or making any sort of sound.

"Scott, come on!" Stiles yelled stepping closer to the table, but Teagan grabbed his arm as she reminded him, "You can't touch him… you'll get shocked too."

He nodded and swallowed hard as he watched helplessly from beside Teagan.

"Wh-why isn't working?" Teagan finally stuttered out as she looked over to see they barely had thirty seconds left before Scott would be gone forever.

"She's too weak." Avery breathed shaking her head back and forth, "She used too much power earlier… she's not strong enough to bring him back."

"No…" Teagan gasped with tears welling up in her eyes as she started to cry and she grabbed onto Stiles' hand as he also hung his head.

Stepping up to the table, Avery loudly said, "Kira, don't stop what you're doing… keep going. No matter what, you have to keep the electricity flowing."

She nodded, with a terrified and confused look on her face as Avery stepped closer and took a deep breath before she reached down putting one of her hands on top of Kira's hand.

"A!" Teagan gasped her eyes wide in fear and shock.

Immediately the blue waves of electricity were bouncing not only all over Scott's body at a rapid rate, but they were now also visible on Avery's skin as well as she blonde focused all of her energy on boosting Kira's powers.

Kira stared at Avery with wide eyes when the blonde opened her eyes and instead of their natural color they were coal black, a sign that she was dipping into the dark powers she had from being an Imperium.

When Chris' watch stopped beeping, Teagan looked up fearfully as she saw blood starting to run from her friend's nose.

"Avery, no!" Teagan yelled as she grabbed onto her best friend without even thinking, to pull her away before she ended up killing herself. But she'd forgotten about the currents and as she grabbed onto her to pull her backwards, she screamed out in pain as the electricity moved through her body for a split second before both girls landed on the floor at the exact same moment Scott pulled in a deep breath as he woke up.

It was barely a second later that Isaac raced into the room, moving so fast he seemed to blur against his surroundings as he dropped to Teagan's side and looked at her. Brushing some hair out of her face he grabbed onto her cheeks and asked, "Are you okay? What happened?"

Teagan blinked seeming stunned for a moment before she started to look like herself again as she assured him, "I'm okay… I'm okay."

Isaac stared at her with a concerned expression, before he pulled her face to his for a kiss. He'd came running the second he heard her pained screams and he'd feared what kind of scene he might be rushing too. But luckily she seemed okay, just a little shaken up.

After pulled back from the kiss, Teagan looked over to Avery who was wiping blood from her face with the back of her hand.

"A, are you okay?" Teagan asked her as she reached out a hand, which her best friend took with the hand she wasn't using to get the blood off her face and she breathed, "I'm fine…"

Her gaze drifted up to Scott who was smiling at Kira as she leaned down to kiss him, smiling weakly at them Avery breathed, "We're all fine."

Isaac's gaze fell to Kira as he quietly said, "Maybe not everyone…"

"What?" Teagan asked looking up to her boyfriend as he helped her to her feet, before he extended a hand to Avery to help her up too.

"Kira…"

Everyone looked over to see Liam standing just inside of the doors.

"What?" She asked, with a sinking feeling already growing in the pit of her stomach.

"It's your mom… she's hurt, she's hurt pretty bad." Liam admitted with an empathetic expression.

"What?" The teenager gasped as she stared at him in shock with tears already burning her eyes.

"Come on." He somberly said as he held the door open for her to go with him.

Once they were gone Isaac announced, "Scott's mom and Kira's mom ran into a berserker…"

Scott sat up on the table and Isaac quickly assured him, "Your mom's fine… we went because we heard her screaming for help, but she wasn't yelling for herself."

"Is Kira's mom going to be okay?" Stiles asked.

Shrugging Isaac pulled Teagan against him as he admitted in a somber voice, "She's lost a lot of blood…"

**~()~**

"Avery?" Derek asked as he walked into her dark room and flipped the light switch on to see her laying curled up in the center of her bed.

"Shut the lights off." She breathed pinning her eyes shut.

Derek paused for a moment getting a good look at her before he shut the lights back off, another perk of his werewolf powers he missed was his night vision.

Making his way through the darkness he sat down on the bed beside her and asked, "What's wrong?'

"I just have a headache." She admitted as she moved over some so he could get into the bed beside her. Once he was leaned back against the headboard of her bed, she scooted up beside him as he folded an arm around her and quietly asked, "I'm guessing that plan you texted me about didn't draw out the benefactor?"

"Nothing went right." She said as she blew out a heavy breath and tried to snuggle closer against him, "The whole thing was a disaster…"

Turning more towards her on his side, he pulled her against him with both arms and asked, "What happened."

Closing her eyes in the already dark room she admitted, "Kira used so much of her powers trying to slow Scott's heart that when it came to time to start his heart back up… she wasn't strong enough. So I…" Her voice trailed off as she pulled in a breath and admitted, "So I had to help her –I had to make sure Scott woke back up."

"Avery…" Derek started to say, but she cut him off as she reasoned, "I know what you're going to say… the same things Teagan said to me before we left the hospital. That I can't just be using these Imperium powers and I know that… but I couldn't just stand there and let Scott die."

"I know." Derek breathed, leaning forward and pressed a kiss to the top of her head as he realized that had to be why her head was hurting her so bad.

Swallowing hard she thought back to how Teagan had gotten injured because of her. Luckily, her best friend was okay but the night so easily could have turned out differently. It wouldn't have taken much more exposure to those electrical currents for their hearts to stop from it. If something had happened to Teagan because of her she'd never have forgiven herself for that.

"Something else happened too…"

Derek stayed quiet waiting on her to open up more, but as her mind flashed back to being face to face with Kate Argent, Avery couldn't bring herself to tell him what had happened so she skipped forward to another bad even of the night as she continued, "Kira's mom got hurt pretty badly… she lost a lot of blood but they got her stable before they sent her out to another hospital. I talked to Kira a little while ago on the phone and she said she's going to stay with her mom at the hospital they sent her too for a few days."

He had a feeling she wasn't being entirely honest with him but when she made a small sniffling noise and said, "I'm just exhausted and my head is killing me… I'm just going to sleep."

Raising up she pressed a quick kiss to his lips before she pulled out of his arms and scooted over in the bed, turning on her side with her back to him as she softly assured him, "I'm fine… you don't have to stay."

Kicking his shoes off, he laid down behind her as he pulled her against him and softly said, "I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded and held her breath as she pinned her eyes shut to try and keep her tears at bay. The day had been one let down after another and after having to draw her power from the darkness inside of her to help Kira bring Scott back, she didn't feel like herself anymore. In all honesty she didn't even really want Derek there, she just wanted to be completely alone. Now that the darkness was back she felt like that's what she deserved –to be entirely alone.

**~()~**

As soon as Teagan and Isaac walked into the empty house, she grabbed his hand, pulling him toward the stairs to lead him upstairs. She pulled him into her room and led him toward her bed. She spun him around and lightly pushed him toward the bed, causing him to fall back onto the bed beside a sleeping Aspen.

"Whoa, where are you going?" Isaac asked, as she went to walk away. He quickly sat up and grabbed her hand, pulling her back toward him. "Come here." He added.

Teagan shook her head, as she pulled her hand away and said,"No, sit down and take off your shirt."

"Hey, if we're taking off clothes, you definitely need to come here." Isaac joked, as he reached out for her again.

"No! I need to check your wound." Teagan said frantically, as she pulled away from him again. She didn't have time to joke or flirt. She needed to grabbed the first aid kit, she needed to clean his wound, make sure it was healing right, make sure he was okay.

She glanced down at her hands, seeing the dried blood on it and took a shaky breath, as she remembered seeing the dagger in his back. The berserker had thrown it so hard it almost went all the way through him.

"I gotta-I gotta help you.. I gotta-"

"Hey, hey, look at me." Isaac said, as he stood up, seeing how frazzled she looked. He grabbed her hands, holding on to her, as he added,"I'm okay. I'm healed."

"The dagger was embedded in your back." Teagan pointed out. "I need-I need to check it. I have to-"

"Teagan, look, I'm okay." Isaac said again, as he removed his shirt. He turned around showing her that the wound was completely healed from behind, then turned back around to face her so she could see that he was okay all over. "I'm okay." He softly said, as he laid a hand on the side of her neck.

"You're okay." Teagan whispered out, as she carefully laid her right hand on his stomach, where the dagger almost come through the front. She glanced down, as she lightly ran her finger tips across his healed skin, causing goosebumps where ever she touched.

He blew out a breath from her touch, then laid his hand on top of hers, both of their hands resting against his stomach. He grabbed her chin with his other hand, forcing her to look at him, as he said again,"I'm okay."

Teagan nodded her head at his words, as tears filled her eyes, remembering the fight with the berserker. Seeing him being tossed into a wall, then later being stabbed by the dagger and all the blood. She closed her eyes, trying to push those imagines aside, as she stepped forward and pressed her lips against his for a heated kiss.

Isaac inhaled in surprise at her actions, then wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer to him, as he laid his other hand on the back of her head. He let her set the pace as he spun them around and walked her backwards toward the bed. He kept his hand on the back of her head as he lowered her toward the mattress.

The two were so lost in each other, they barely noticed Aspen jumping down from the bed and making his way out of the room to give them some privacy. Isaac laid out beside her, giving her a few more kisses, before pulling back to look at her.

He lightly touched the side of her face where a small bruise was forming. He leaned forward to press his lips against the mark, wishing he could take it away. He hated seeing her hurt. It's why he always tried in beginning to keep her out of everything, but that never worked.

If the ones she loved was involved she was going to be right there with them. She wasn't the type to sit on the side lines, she had to be involved, which was why she worked so hard in training; to be stronger, to be better, to be a hell of a fighter.

"Are you okay?" He quietly asked, as he looked down at the bruise again. Between the fight and then grabbed Avery and getting a shock, he was just as worried about her as she was him. None of them had a good night.

"I'm okay." Teagan said with a nod. "I just..."

"You what?" Isaac asked, as she paused.

"I'm worried about you." She softly said. She looked down, placing her hand on his stomach again, as she added,"I looked down and saw nothing but blood and I thought..."

"That's not going to happen." Isaac interrupted, knowing she was reminded of how they lost Allison. He knew she was worried about losing him. He laid a hand on the side of her face, forcing her to look at him, as he added,"I'm not going anywhere. It's you and me, remember?"

Teagan nodded her head then pressed her lips against his for a gentle kiss. She rested her forehead against his for a moment, just needing to be close to him, then laid back against the bed, as she added,"I'm also worried about Avery... Tapping into her powers to save Scott. I'm glad he is okay, don't get me wrong, but she worked so hard and this is a huge set back. I'm worried what it's going to do to her." Teagan said.

"She's not going to slip away again." Isaac reminded her. "We'll be there for her, plus, she has Derek to keep her grounded."

"Honestly, I'm not sure if that makes me feel better or not." Teagan quietly admitted. Things were going good with the couple lately, but any time she put a little trust in Derek, he broke that trust, and Avery's mind was too fragile for that now.

"I also worry about Kira and her mom, Stiles and Malia..." She began to say, until Isaac shook his head and let out a small chuckle, causing her to ask him what he was laughing at.

"So basically you're worried about everyone." Isaac stated.

"I can't help it." Teagan said, as she lowered her eyebrows in concern.

"I know. You worry about everyone. You care about everyone and it's one of the many things I love about you." Isaac said. He lightly ran his finger tips down her arm, causing her to shiver from his touch. "But while you're worrying about everyone, I'm going to be here worrying about you. I'm going to be here to remind you that you don't have to take everything on alone. We're a team, Teagan. You can always lean on me." He ran his finger tips back up her arm, then laid his hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, as he softly added,"I'm always here for you."

Teagan smiled at his words as she reached up to grab his hand, kissing the palm of his hand, before saying,"I would be lost without you, Isaac."

"And I wouldn't be able to survive without you." Isaac said back.

"Good thing I'm not going anywhere then." Teagan said, as she smiled up at him.

"If you did I would follow you." He said, as he smiled back.

Teagan continued to smile until the nights events crossed her mind, causing her to lower her eyebrows in concern. He lightly touched the side of her face, as he asked her what was wrong.

"Tonight was bad and I fear it's going to be worst." Teagan said. They were lucky to bring Scott back in time and Avery didn't fall completely apart after seeing Kate, but she knew how hard it had to be for her coming face to face with her worst nightmare. Not to mention their plan didn't work, the benefactor didn't show up, meaning the dead-pool was still out. Isaac and her friends were still in danger.

"It was supposed to be over tonight." She tearfully said. "You were suppose to be safe after tonight."

"I'm ending another night with you, to me that is a victory." Isaac pointed out, as he leaned down to press his lips against hers. He never thought he would be lucky enough to get the girl of his dreams, so any amount of time they were able to spend together meant everything to him.

As he kissed across her chin and down the side of her neck, she opened her mouth to point out that the dead-pool was still out there, but before she could say a word, he pressed his lips against hers again to shut her up.

"Shh, I know." He mumbled against her lips. "But whatever is coming next, we'll handle it together." He gave her another kiss, as he added,"But tonight, I just want to be in this moment with you. I want you to shut your mind off, I want you to get some sleep and I'm going to be right here beside you, okay?"

"I don't know if I can shut my mind off." Teagan said with a sigh.

"I could always wear you out." Isaac offered with a wink, causing her to chuckle. He laid back on the mattress on his back and pulled her toward him, resting her head on his chest.

"Just lay here and let me worry about everything for the night." He said, as he ran his fingers through her hair, causing her to close her eyes feeling relaxed. "You can have all the weird Teasaac the cat dreams tonight." He added, causing her to let out a small laugh, as he reminded her of the time she had a dream of them getting a cat and naming it after them.

He kissed the top of her head, leaving his lips against her skin a little longer, as he quietly said,"Just rest. I'm right here."

**~()~**

It was a few hours later that Avery woke up and the noise of her dark thoughts had faded some, enough to where she was starting to feel like herself again. She rolled over expecting to see Derek sleeping beside her but he wasn't there.

Groggily she raised her head and looked towards her bathroom but the door was open and the room was empty.

"Derek?" She called out, but was met by nothing but silence.

Reaching over she turned the lamp on –on her bedside table and looked off the side of the bed to see his shoes were still on the floor. Standing up next to her bed she made a small noise as she stretched, still wearing her clothes from the day before.

When Annabel jumped up onto the bed, Avery reached down to give her a scratch behind the ears when she jerked her hand back when she felt something wet and sticky on her cats fur.

Looking down to her hand, Avery's eyes widened at the smears of crimson now staining her fingers. Gasping she grabbed her pet cat and started to feel around on her small body to find the source of the blood but then her eyes drifted over to where she saw the perfect prints of her cat's paws in blood leading into the bedroom, trailing off right before she'd jumped up onto the bed.

Grabbing one of the ringed daggers out of her nightstand drawer, she slowly walked beside the bloody paw prints. With each step, her heart raced as her bare feet carefully avoided stepping in the blood. She followed the paw prints down the stairs and into the front living room where she gasped at the sight of some blood smeared on the walls and a large puddle on the floor.

Her heart raced even fast in her chest as she frantically looking around, wondering if the blood belonged to her dad or Derek –possibly even both.

Closing her eyes for a few moments she somehow managed to pull in a deep breath trying to remind herself that she needed to stay focused and as calm as possible.

But all sense of reason flooded away as she heard a familiar voice behind her, "Oh don't look so sad… you had to know you couldn't save Derek. You had to know that I'd win."

Slowly turning around she faced Kate Argent as she stood with a large amount of blood spattered on her

Flashing the teenager an eerie grin she said, "That's right… you should have killed me when you had the chance."

Tears ran down her cheeks and all she wanted to do was run forward –attack and ultimately kill her, but the only thing she could do was stand frozen as her heart shattered and all of her hope slipped away.

Kate laughed as she lowered her head for a moment, when she looked back up her eyes were glowing green, her fangs extended and her skin starting to take on its purple hue as she shifted.

Before the blonde had time to react, Kate let out a roar that shook the entire house as she charged at the teenager who pinned her eyes shut and dropped to the ground screaming out as she curled up into a ball.

"Avery!"

Her heart raced at the familiar voice but she was too scared to open her eyes.

"Avery, you're okay… you're okay. Just wake up." Derek pleaded as he held the teenager against him, who finally stopped struggling and looked up at him with red bloodshot eyes.

Letting out a breath she clutching onto him, burying her face against him; as her tears started to soak through the fabric of his shirt.

"It's okay, it was just a nightmare." He tried to assure her as he lovingly smoothed her hair out of her face and tried to get her to look at him.

But she sobbed loudly and argued, "It's not just a nightmare… she's real."

Immediately he knew who she was talking about. "Kate?" He quietly asked, holding her even tighter than before.

Nodding Avery admitted, "She was at the hospital… I saw her and w-we were face-to-face. I could have killed her…"

Her eyes widened and she gasped, "She could have killed me… she was right there."

"Shh." Derek tried to calm her down as he pulled her again, shaking his head. Thinking he should have kept pushing before she went to sleep because he just felt like there was something she was keeping from him.

Avery closed her eyes but all she could see was the living room covered in blood and Kate's voice in her head, her hands clutched onto the fabric of his shirt as she said through her tears and gritted teeth, "I should have killed her."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, SmellYourScentForMiles, xxxRena, Exuberance of Youth and DancingDorisDay for reviewing the last chapter. ^_^ We're glad you liked it!**


	36. Running Out of Time

**Chapter Thirty Six – Running Out of Time**

* * *

><p>The next morning, Teagan slowly came to with her head still on Isaac's chest like she had fallen asleep the night before. She never tossed, turned or had a bad dream. She felt relaxed, calm and rested, and with everything going on lately, it was exactly what she needed.<p>

Feeling her shifting around, Isaac opened his eyes and looked down at her. He kissed the top of her head, as he said,"Morning, babe. How did you sleep?"

"Good. Very good." Teagan answered, as she stretched out then curled back up against him. "Thank you for holding me all night."

"Anytime." Isaac said, as he held her close. He blew out a breath, as he added,"I wished we could lay here all day, but I have practice this morning."

Teagan let out a sleepy groan, as she tighten her arm around him and said,"I wish you didn't have to go."

"Me too. But with the game coming up, coach wants us ready" Isaac said. "Would it make you feel better if I made breakfast before I left?"

"You do know the way to my heart." Teagan said, as she raised her head to look at him with a smile on her face.

Isaac smiled back as he leaned forward to kiss the tip of her nose. "Why don't you go shower and I'll make something up. What do you want?"

She thought hard about it, then opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say a word, he cut her off by saying,"Why do I even bother asking. You can never decide something. I'll just surprise you, okay?"

"Sounds good." Teagan said with a nod. She knew whatever he made it would be good and she would love it.

He gave her a quick kiss, which turned into a heated make out session between them. Then as much as he hated to do it, he had to bring it to a stop as he regrettably crawled out of bed, making his way downstairs to the kitchen while she grabbed a clean set of clothes and took a shower. Many minutes later, she walked into the kitchen, seeing him standing in front of the stove.

"Smells good in here." Teagan said. She walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle. "What are you cooking?"

"French toast." Isaac answered, as he turned his head to give her a quick kiss on the side of the head.

"I love french toast." Teagan announced, as she stepped off to the side to jump up and sit on the counter to watch him.

"You love every breakfast food." Isaac corrected, as he turned his head to smile at her before getting back to the food. He scooped up the last piece of toast and placed it in the plate off to the side. He pour a ton of syrup on top, just the way she liked, then carried it over toward her.

"Unfortunately, I can't join you for breakfast." He stated, as he handed her the plate, seeing her pout about him having to leave. "But I still hope you like it."

"At least have a bite." Teagan argued, as she cut off a piece and held it up for him to eat.

"Thanks, babe." He said, as he ate the piece of french toast from the fork. He swallowed it then laid a hand on the back of her neck, bringing her toward him for a quick kiss. He gave her a wink, as he said,"Best breakfast ever."

Teagan smiled at him, then called out a greeting as he turned to leave the room. He grabbed his bag and her keys by the door, then called out bye to her, as he opened the door, surprised to see Lydia standing on the other side.

"Hey." He said to the red-head. "She's in the kitchen and I'm running late."

Lydia nodded her head, as she stepped into the house and saw him rush out and over to Teagan's car. She called out a greeting to him, then made her way toward the kitchen, where she saw Teagan still sitting on the counter eating the french toast Isaac made for her.

"Hey, Lydia, how are you?" Teagan asked her friend.

"I wish I knew." Lydia answered back, as she leaned against the counter.

"You hungry?" Teagan offered, as she held out the plate of food toward her.

Lydia shook her head and said,"I'm okay. Plus Avery warned me to never eat breakfast at your house." She paused for a minute, trying to remember exactly what Avery told her. "Something about Isaac being a kink master and you two getting freaking with food."

Teagan choked on her food for a moment before swallowing and feeling her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "Avery talks too much." She said with a shake of her head.

"We're all just happy to see you having your own sex-capades." Lydia pointed out. For years Avery and Lydia traded stories while Teagan sat there quietly with a red face.

Teagan rolled her eyes as she let out a small chuckle and sat her empty plate aside. "So what's the reason for the early morning visit? I know it's not to trade sex stories... or at least I hope it's not."

"I heard the plan didn't work last night." Lydia said.

"Yeah, the benefactor never showed up." Teagan said with a frown. "But Scott has a theory... Since the benefactor didn't show up, maybe that means, whoever it is, is a banshee or either working with one. That's why he didn't have to show up, he knew Scott wasn't dead for real."

"And I think I know who the banshee is." Lydia said.

"Who?" Teagan asked with a confused look.

"Grandma." Lydia answered, as she handed Teagan a piece of folded up paper.

"What?" Teagan called out in surprise, as she jumped down from the counter. She unfolded the piece of paper, seeing that it looked a lot like the notes Lydia wrote down which ended up being the dead-pool. She looked up with wide eyes, as she asked,"Is this another dead-pool?"

"I don't know. I haven't been able to crack it yet." Lydia admitted. "But grandma left it for me in an urn of mountain ash. Not her ashes, T, but mountain ash, that has to mean something, right?" She let out a sigh, as she ran a hand through her red hair. "She wrote it and I've been racking my brain trying to figure out what the code could be, but I can't think of anything. Since you and Avery were also close to my grandma I was hoping one of you could think of some words to try."

"I can't think of anything now but I'll be thinking about it and let you know as soon as something crosses my mind." Teagan offered.

"If you talk to Avery ask her for me, okay?" Lydia asked. When Teagan nodded her head, she continued,"I've tried to call her but she won't answer."

"She's probably busy with Derek." Teagan pointed out a little harsher than she meant.

"That's what I figured." Lydia said. "So what do we think about this? The whole Avery and Derek thing?"

"I don't know." Teagan admitted with a sigh. "Don't get me wrong, I want her happy, but is Derek the right choice for her? The healthy choice for her?" As the red head shrugged her shoulders, she continued,"He has hurt her before and broke her heart, but after what happened a few months ago, I'm worried about more than her heart. If he screws up again, I'm worried what that will do to her mind and we can't lose her, Lydia."

"And we won't." Lydia said, as she reached out to grab her friend's hand. "We're not losing anyone else again. If grandma did fake her death, if she is behind all of this, we'll stop her." She blew out a nervous breath before continuing,"I don't know how my powers work. I can't shut them on or off, but I'm going to do what I can to crack this code. I feel like we're so close to solving all of this."

Teagan nodded her head in agreement, feeling a slight chill before adding,"I feel that way too, but I also feel like we're running out of time."

"We are." Lydia softly said with a worried look on her face. She was getting the feeling she always got when something bad was about to happen. She couldn't help but fear someone wasn't going to make it.

**~()~**

"What are we doing here?" Avery questioned as Derek pulled into a parking lot at their local supermarket.

"I told you, we're getting dinner." He reminded her as he shut the car off and looked over at her.

With a disbelieving look she looked back over at him and he frowned slightly at seeing the dark circles under her eyes, even though she'd been in bed for the half the day her sleep had been plagued by nightmares until she finally gave up on trying to sleep and they'd put in one of her favorite movies while he held her and tried to keep her calm.

Everything she'd been through the day before with seeing Kate and having to use her dark power to help bring Scott back had taken a lot of out of the teenager.

Leaning over he kissed her before he got out of the car and waited until she joined him as he grabbed her hand and said, "Come on."

Once they were inside of the store he grabbed a basket with the hand that wasn't intertwined with hers as she asked, "Why didn't we just order something?"

He looked over at her and shook his head as he held back a laugh when he realized she still had no idea what they were doing.

As they walked through the store Avery barely paid attention to where they were going or what Derek was putting into the basket as she allowed him to lead her along while she remained lost in her head.

It seemed like every plan she and her friends put together just blew up in their faces and someone always ended up getting hurt and no matter how hard they fought, they were always so many steps behind against their enemies.

She heard Derek's voice as he asked her a question, but she couldn't understand what he'd said she just nodded and offered a smile, before her mind drifted again and she thought of how they were no closer to finding out what Kate did to Derek and even though she'd been spending every night searching online and through old books and family journals she had no idea how to reverse it.

And even though aside from losing his werewolf abilities, Derek seemed fine –she knew it was his name that cracked the third list which meant he was dying or was going to die, she wasn't sure which one. But what she did know was that she'd stop at nothing to save him.

Physically shaking her head, she hoped it would break up some of her jumbled thoughts and anxiety. With all of them still being on the dead-pool she had no idea if they'd made it out alive and for the time being she needed to just focus on what was important –and that was that, for the moment at least she was getting to spend time with the love of her life.

When she felt him pull his hand away from hers, she looked over with her brows lowered in confusion as she saw him put a package of chicken into the basket.

"What the hell is that?" She gasped.

Looking over at her with raised eyebrows, he laughed as he stated, "It's chicken."

"I know that." She replied, rolling her eyes, "I mean what the hell are we going to do with it?"

He stared at her for a moment before he finally said, "Cook it…" But his tone sounded more like it was a question now.

She titled her head back and laughed until she realized she was the only one laughing, then her eyes widened as she gasped, "Oh my god… you're serious."

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could she questioned, "Okay… but who's going to cook the chicken?"

Letting out a small sigh he motioned between them as he explained, "Us, Avery… we are."

"Can you even cook?" She laughed with a raised eyebrow at the idea of him cooking.

"Yes!" He said loudly, as he grabbed her hand and tried to pull away from her meat cooler display, but she pulled her hand back as she said, "Okay… we could cook… or we could go out." She added in quickly as she grabbed the basket from his hand and sat it down inside the cooler smiling widely at him.

"Or… we could finishing getting what we need and go home and just cook." He argued, "Since we were out of town for your birthday, you pointed out that we never did normal things when we were together… and you wanted too, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"This is about as normal as it gets." He pointed out as he picked the basket back up and held onto it tightly when she tried to take it back away from him.

She'd never even thought about him knowing how to cook before, it had never came up in conversation and it was always just easier to order food or go out to get something but apparently he knew his way around the kitchen –and she didn't. Avery always loved being the one who knew what to do and she didn't want to have to admit to him that she was lucky to not burn toast.

"Or… we could just go get something." She offered with a smile, hoping he'd cave and stop arguing with her.

"I don't want too." He admitted, not understanding why she was so against an evening of staying in.

"That's because you hate people!" She sighed, as she dropped her head back and stared up to the high industrial ceiling of the large store.

"I don't hate people."

"Well you don't really like people."

He smiled at her as he took a step forward and quietly said, "But I love you."

"And I love you." She replied, looking slightly worried only he had no idea what she was worried about.

Leaning in he pressed a quick kiss to her lips before he pulled back and softly stated, "I know I've made a lot of mistakes when it came to us, okay? So just let me make up for some of that and do things right this time around."

When she nodded, he grabbed onto her hand as he continued, "We'll start with this dinner."

**~()~**

Once they were back at Derek's loft he'd went into the main downstairs room and Avery had taken their bags into the kitchen, holding in a deep breath she started to snoop through it, trying to figure out what they were having for dinner. And hoped it was going to be something easy to fix and she could fake her way through it.

But as she looked at the chicken and assortment of vegetables including a few different kinds and colors of peppers she had no idea what they were going to make with that.

She wondered for a moment if she had enough time to text Teagan and ask if she had any idea what you make from those ingredients, and then maybe quickly look up a recipe but her question about time was interrupted when she heard him walking back into the kitchen with her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, seeing she had the same worried look on her face that she'd worn for most of their shopping trip.

"I'm fine." She said with a smile as she stepped away from the counter and pulled her phone from her pocket and started to pretend like she was busy, as she glanced up and watched him as he washed and started to cut up the chicken.

Still not sure what they were even cooking, Avery pulled her hair up into a bun and washed her hands while they talked about how the plan fell through with using Scott's faked death to lure the benefactor out and she filled him in on how Kira's mom was already doing much better.

She eyed the rest of the contents from the shopping bag before finally shrugging and sitting up on the counter deciding he appeared to have everything covered.

Looking around her eyes landed on the bottle of wine poking up out of the bag, with a smile she reached down into the bag and retrieved the corkscrew. Wiping her still damp hands on her shorts, she held the bottle between her knees as she worked on opening it.

Once the cork finally popped out she let out a small excited noise causing him to look over at her with wide eyes; he sat the wooden spoon down he'd been cooking the chicken with as he walked over and tried to take the bottle from her, but she said, "Uh, uh, uh." And slapped his hands away.

"Where did you even get that?" He questioned still trying to get the bottle away from her.

With a small giggle she answered, "From the store."

"When? I was with you the whole time!" He argued with her.

"Except for when you disappeared down the pasta aisle for like ten minutes." She recalled.

He stared at her still obviously confused about how she'd not only bought a bottle of wine and a corkscrew but somehow snuck it into the basket he'd been carrying.

Sighing he opened his mouth and asked, "You think that's a good idea?"

"Oh my god, it's just wine… it's not like I broke out the tequila and suggested we do body shots. Because you'd probably be against that?" She said with raised eyebrows that lowered as she saw his expression and said "Yeah, you're against it."

"I'm against anything that's going to hurt you… and after everything-" He started to say but she cut him off.

"It's like I'm an alcoholic, okay? I have control and I'm not drinking to deal with things or because I'm upset." She pointed out, with a slightly hurt expression from what he'd said.

He tried to pull the bottle away but she held onto it tightly when he asked, "Okay then… why are you drinking?"

"Calm down, I think I'm mentally stable enough to have wine with our dinner." She laughed, covering up the tinge of pain in her voice.

"Avery, I just don't think it's a good idea." He kept himself from continuing to bring up her past problems with drinking, it would only make the situation worse.

Pulling the bottle out of his grip she sat it down on the counter beside her as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, leaning down she pressed her lips against his, smiling into the kiss as his warm hands slid over her bare upper legs, and he easily matched her aggressiveness as he slid his hands up her outer thighs farther until he reached behind her pulling her closer to the edge of the counter with him.

"Wine with dinner is a normal couple thing and apparently today you're all about doing normal things…" Her voice trailed off into a small moan and she tilted her head back and relished in the feeling of his mouth on her neck as she wrapped her legs around him. Her hands rubbed up his muscular arms as he reclaimed her mouth with his own, getting lost in the moment with her.

With a small smirk she broke their kiss and ran her hands from his neck, down his chest as she breathed, "Derek?"

His eyes lingered on her lips as he raised an eyebrow and asked, "What?"

"Are you sure you don't want to go out for dinner?" She questioned.

"Were not going anywhere." He said with a smile as he leaned in to kiss her again but she pulled back, "Then you should be paying more attention because you're going to burn our dinner…" She added with a smile.

It took his mind a few moments to process what she was saying before his eyes widened and he darted back over to the stove.

Laughing she poured some wine into one of the glasses and took a sip as she watched him.

"What are you doing?" He finally asked her as he lowered the heat on the stove.

"Just… enjoying the view." Avery said with a flirty smile and a wink.

"Is that so?" He asked, smiling at her.

"Mhmm." She hummed, also thinking she was waiting to see what kind of meal he was going to turn the chicken strips into.

"Put the wine down and help me." He laughed, realizing she'd fully intended to just sit there and watch him do all of the work.

"You want me to help you?" She breathed feeling a little nervous at the idea. What if she messed it up? She could fake her way through almost any situation, but cooking wasn't really one of them, she'd never learned how to cook.

"Okay." She shrugged as she opened a cabinet her eyes drifting over the mix matched dishes as said, "I'll set the table."

Pouring some soy sauce into the skillet he glanced over his shoulder and simply asked, "Can you cut up the peppers, I'll need them in a minute."

"Sure…"

Pulling out a cutting board and a knife she washed the peppers and sat one down on the board and looked down to the knife. The task had sounded simple enough, but now she wasn't sure if she needed them cut in strips or just chopped up.

She looked over to him and then back down to the board as she thought of an easy way to find out, that didn't involve her admitting she was probably the worst cook in the world.

"So, um, correct me if I'm wrong… but isn't cooking together supposed to be romantic and all? Like soft music in the background and you over here with your arms around me, helping me cut these peppers?" She asked, her voice quiet and tone lighthearted.

With a chuckle he asked, "You mean the car alarm that's been going off nearby for the past ten minutes isn't romantic enough?"

With a loud dramatic sigh she hung her head but knew he was playing right into her scheme as he walked up behind her and slowly rubbed his hands from her shoulder down her arms, causing her to shiver in response to his touch.

"You mean like this…" He breathed out next to her ear as he guided her through cutting up the pepper the way they needed it.

Snuggling back against his body she smiled to herself and bit down on her lip as they cut the next pepper. Score; she thought to herself, she'd not only managed to get his help without asking, but her stomach was in flutters again from his touch.

After a few minutes she groaned at the sound of the car alarm still going off and said, "You need a TV or something, we need background noise here."

"I don't need a TV." He argued.

"Derek… seriously, you're the only person I know who doesn't have a TV." She shook head as she watching him move another washed pepper to the board and guide her through cutting it up

"I have a computer." He added with a shrug, like that was enough for him.

"Yeah, if you had a TV you'd have things to watch to kill time." She continued trying to prove her point.

Leaning in closer her stomach jumped at the feeling of his breath against her ear as he quietly admitted, "I like watching you."

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth she shook her head at him knowing he was telling the truth. Even when she was doing something as normal as doing her homework she'd catch him just watching her.

After adding the vegetables to the skillet she watched as he stirred the pan of rice and her eyes widened, "Stir fry… we're making stir fry!"

He glanced over at her with raised eyebrows as he questioned, "What did you think we were having?"

Letting out a loud laugh she avoided an answer as she grabbed two plates from the cabinet and then moved the bottle of wine and glasses to the table, she stood back and watched him as she sipped from her glass.

When he finally turned the dials on the stove to off she rushed over towards him as she asked, "Is it done?"

He nodded and reached for a plate but she excitedly exclaimed, "I can do this part!"

"Okay, suit yourself." He laughed as he started opening drawers to get their eating utensils.

Finishing up the last plate she demanded his attention as she said, "Ta-da!"

He looked down to see she'd put the rice in a mound in the center of the plates with the vegetables and chicken in a neat circle around it, not to mention the soy sauced she'd drizzled over not only the food, but on the plate as decoration, just like she'd gotten served to her in fancy restaurants.

"What?" She asked, seeing his confused expression and fearing for a moment that she'd just screwed everything up.

"I was just going to scoop it out onto the plates… but this works to."

Taking a small step backwards she defensively said, "Fine, do it yourself next time… last time I slave over a hot stove for you."

Running his tongue over his bottom lip he had to hold back a laugh at not only her dramatic attitude, but at the fact she was acting like she'd done all of the cooking when she'd mainly stood back and watched him. "That's not what I meant." He assured her as he walked up to her and rested his hands on her hips.

Crossing her arms over her chest she glanced over to the side, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Hey…" He quietly said, seeing she was really upset and offended by what he'd said. He didn't know it but she'd really been happy to be able to help with their meal, and felt extremely offended.

He said her name as he held onto the sides of her face and made her look at him, her eyebrows were pushed together in frustration and her lips pursed into a thin line.

"Don't be mad at me." He said leaning in as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, causing her arms to finally drop from where she'd angrily crossed them over her chest from not only emotionally but physically shutting off from him.

Pulling back their eyes locked as he said, "It looks great."

Watching as she picked up their plates he smiled at her antics and stubborn behavior as he thought to himself how he wouldn't trade these moments; the moments where she was laughing, and smiling for anything in the world. It was a side of her he hadn't seen much of in a long time. But the more time he spent with her, the more she opened up started to trust him again, the more she was learning to just let herself be happy with him.

Thinking back to her comment about slaving over a hot stove he laughed and said, "You do realize I did all of the cooking." He called after her as he grabbed the silverware and followed her over to the table as she sat their plates down across from each other.

"Well if that's the attitude you're going to have, I'll take yours too." She laughed as she started to reach for his place, but he grabbed it before she could as he playfully called out, "Hey!"

Holding her hands up in surrender she smiled up at him as he sat down and handed her –her utensils, as she poured the wine for both of them. For the moment, she felt like she was on top of the world.

**~()~**

A few hours after they'd eaten Avery was sitting on Derek's bed rereading some of her mom's old journals to make sure she hadn't missed anything about a way to help Derek.

Hearing a thud she looked up to the ceiling knowing that Derek was upstairs looking through boxes of things, she couldn't even remember what he'd said he was going up there for.

Laying the book down she started to get up to go see if he needed any help but before she could her phone went off and she saw it was Lydia, feeling bad for not returning her calls earlier that day she answered, "Hey Lydia."

"Avery!" Lydia exclaimed as she raised her head from the steering wheel of her car and looked over to the small house Deputy Parrish had went into a few minutes before to shower and change she continued, "Someone tried to kill Parrish."

"What?" Avery gasped, her eyes wide.

"It was one of the other deputies who found out about the dead-pool… he trapped him in his car and set in on fire." Lydia breathed out.

Tears stung the blonde teenagers eyes as she stuttered out some indiscernible noises before finally in a hoarse voice she whispered, "Is he…"

"He's alive… that's the thing, A. He's completely fine… like it never happened." Lydia said as she continued to fill her on what happened at the police station and how the sheriff had gotten shot and Stiles was with his dad at the hospital.

After she explained that she'd driven Parrish home so he could shower and put some clothes on, she said, "He's barely said three word since he got in the car… but he's going to have a lot of questions, questions that we need to answer and I don't know how…"

"It's okay." Avery quickly said, "He's alive… that's all that matter right now, the rest we can figure out."

Avery glanced up to see Derek walking towards her with a slightly confused expression as he'd only caught the last few lines form Avery's side of the conversation.

"Maybe we should call Derek… you told me he knew that Jackson was a kanima, maybe he knows what Parrish is… or maybe even you do, you've been reading all of your mom's stuff?" Lydia said hopeful.

"I have no idea but yeah… you're right, he's going to have so many questions and I think we should all be there to answer them. I'm at Derek's now, bring him here as soon as you can." Avery instructed over the phone.

"Should we call everyone else?" The redhead asked rubbing her forehead with her free hand.

"Kira's still gone with her mom and Stiles should stay with his dad… I can call Teagan and Isaac if you want to call Scott?" The blonde offered.

"Okay, we'll see you soon." Lydia said as she got off the phone and called the alpha.

"Who's bringing who here?" Derek asked walking up to her as he saw how frazzled she looked.

Shaking her phone in her hand she explained, "That was Lydia… she's calling Scott now and everyone's going to meet here."

"Why?" He asked as she started to dial Teagan's cellphone number.

"Because someone tried to kill Jordan… they lit him on fire, but he's fine." She explained in a rushed voice as she waited for her best friend to pick up her phone.

With furrowed brows Derek questioned, "Wait… who's Jordan?"

"Deputy Parrish!" She hissed at him right as Teagan answered the phone.

**~()~**

That night, Teagan was laying in bed with Isaac passed out beside her. After she and Isaac ate dinner with her father, he went back to work, while Teagan and Isaac went upstairs to study.

Isaac was laid back against the headboard reading a book he had to do a report on, while she was laid out on her stomach doing her math homework. Every so often he would reach out and rub her leg or lay his hand on her butt, just touching her in some way, but after several minutes of him not touching her, she looked over her shoulders and softly smiled at seeing him asleep.

She turned back to look at her math book, doing a few more problems until she felt her eyes getting heavy. She laid her arms across her book then laid her head down, figuring she would take a quick nap then get back to work.

Hearing the sound of waves crashing and seagulls squawking, she opened her eyes and saw she was standing on a beach. She glanced up, feeling the hot sun beaming down on her and feeling confused on how she got there or why.

She was even more confused when she saw a few tails belonging to something splashing around in the water. She took a few steps, making her way into the water until it was splashing around her knees. She softly gasped when something broke the surface and she got a better look at it, but even with seeing it with her own two eyes, she still couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Mermaids?" She quietly said to herself. She realized she had to be in the middle of a dream, but why would she be dreaming of mermaids.

When she heard someone softly saying her name, she glanced around, but didn't see anyone. It sounded like the voice was all around her, like it was coming from the cool breeze blowing around her.

"Who is it? Who are you?" Teagan called out. Somehow she knew whoever the voice belonged to, it was who has been sending her clues and messages lately. "What do you want from me?"

"Teagan... You know the answer."

"What answer? What are you talking about?" She called out confused.

"You have all the pieces. If you put them together, the picture makes sense." The voice said, as all the other dreams flashed in her mind. The rain, the record player, the book, Brunski at Eichen house.

"No, it doesn't make sense." Teagan argued. "Nothing makes sense. The pieces don't fix."

"They fit. You just have to put them together." The voice said again.

"Maybe if I knew who you were. It would all make more sense." Teagan pointed out.

"If you think it'll help I'll reveal myself. I'll do whatever to help, but you have to solve this, Teagan. You're running out of time." The voice said.

"Running out of time to stop the dead-pool?" Teagan asked, assuming that is what the voice meant.

"No, Teagan, you are running out of time." The voice said back.

"What?" Teagan breathed out confused.

"Teagan, turn around..." The voice said, at the same time she heard Isaac yelling out her name.

With a gasp, Teagan snapped her eyes open, seeing Isaac sitting above her with a concern look on his face. With her breathing labored, she asked him what happened.

"I was about to ask you that." Isaac said back. "You woke me up kicking and all you kept saying was 'Time is up. My time is up'. What does that mean?"

"I-I don't know." Teagan confessed, as she sat up and pulled her legs toward her.

"What was this dream about?" He asked, almost scared to hear what the answer would be.

"None of it made sense. I-I was at a beach and there were mermaids."

"Mermaids?" Isaac questioned. "What does mermaids have to do what any of this?"

"What does any of this have to do with any of this?" Teagan said back, as she ran a hand through her hair in frustration. "The rain, record player, book, Eichen house. None of this makes sense!"

"Hey, it's okay." Isaac said, as he laid a hand on her knee, trying to calm her down.

She wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a chill so deep within her bones she was worried she would never be warm again. "Something is going to happen, we're running out of time and something is going to happen, Isaac, I can feel it."

"Come here." He softly said, as he grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. "What else happened?" He asked, as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her and warm her up.

"There was a voice. It said I had all the pieces, I just have to put them together." Teagan explained.

"Did you recognize the voice?" He asked.

"No. I couldn't even tell where it was coming from or if it was male or female. It sounded like it was coming from everywhere but nowhere." Teagan answered. "But it said I'm running out of time."

"We're running out of time to stop the dead-pool?" He questioned.

"No." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "I'm running out of time."

"What the hell does that mean?" Isaac asked, as he pushed back to look at her closely. He was now starting to have a very bad feeling.

"I don't know, but we have to solve this. Whatever happens, I have to save you." Teagan quietly said, as she laid a hand on his chest, over his heart. No matter what happened to her, she had to know he was okay. She had to know all of her friends were okay.

"That's fine, but just know, I'll do whatever to save you, Teagan." He kissed the side of her head, as he added,"I'm not losing you."

Teagan opened her mouth to say something back, but before she could she heard her phone ringing. Seeing that it was Avery calling, she quickly answered the phone, hoping her blonde friend was okay, but nothing could have prepared her for what her friend was calling to say.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you xxxRena and Iris RainbowWolf for the reviews on last chapter. ^_^ Glad you guys are still reading and enjoying the story.**


	37. Solving a Puzzle

**Chapter Thirty Seven – Solving a Puzzle**

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><p>"So let me get this straight... someone set him on fire and he just walked away unharmed?" Isaac questioned his girlfriend, as they stepped out of the car and began to walk toward Derek's building.<p>

"Yeah, one of his co-workers set a police car on fire with him in it, but somehow he lived." Teagan explained, replying the message about Parrish when Avery caller her earlier.

"What the hell is this guy?" Isaac wondered out loud.

"I don't know, that is why we are here." Teagan answered, as the couple stepped into the elevator that would take them to Derek's floor.

"What can survive fire?" Isaac asked. "I mean, I know Peter did once.. well kinda twice, but the rest of the Hales didn't."

"Yeah, but that's cause Peter made it out of the house somehow and was able to heal. Then the second time he did die from fire, but used Lydia to bring him back." Teagan explained. "But with Parrish someone actually set him on fire, I mean, by all accounts he should be dead, but he walked through the fire and right into the station like nothing happened."

"Okay, well, I'll go back to my previous question, what can survive fire?" Isaac asked again.

Teagan shrugged, as she said,"There are a few different species that can survive fire or get their strength from fire. Maybe some kind of dragon or something. Or, I mean, a phoenix literally rises from the ashes, but as far as what he is, it could be a few different things." When she noticed he was looking at her, she turned her head, as she said,"What?"

"How do you know this?" Isaac asked, shocked and impressed.

"Me, Avery and Allison didn't just train with weapons and learn to fight, we did a lot of research too. Trying to learn as much as we could about anything supernatural. You never want to be unprepared." Teagan explained.

Isaac blew out a breath, as he looked over at her with a smile and said,"Just when I think you can't get any hotter."

Teagan shook her head and chuckled at his comment until she felt a chill again, causing her to wrapped her arms around herself, but nothing she did worked. Seeing her shiver from the corner of his eye, Isaac shrugged off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders as the elevator came to a stop.

He reached out to grab her hand as the two walked over to Derek's loft. He reached out with his free hand to slide the door open, getting everyone's attention, as they were circled around Parrish checked him out.

Derek lowered his eyebrows for a moment, he had never heard Teagan and Isaac arrive until they opened the door. Losing his super senses was something he would never get use to. He took a step back from Parrish, feeling Avery grab his hand and gave it a squeeze. She had seen the look on his face earlier and wanted to comfort him.

As Teagan and Isaac walked further into the room, Teagan nodded her head at everyone, telling them hey, then turned her attention to Parrish, as she asked him how he was doing.

"I was set on fire." Parrish stated, still in shock that any of this was happening.

"Well at least you're not dead." Isaac pointed out, as he stood beside Teagan, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"But I should be." Parrish argued.

"Not if you're like us." Scott said.

"Like you?" Parrish questioned him, feeling confused.

"I don't think he's like us." Derek said back.

"Then what is he?" Lydia questioned.

"Sorry, but I have no idea." Derek answered.

"But you knew about Kira." Scott pointed out.

"And Jackson." Teagan added, as she looked over at him, wondering if he was being completely honest with them. "Your family has been a part of this town for years, you always seem to know more than us about anything, so you mean to tell me you have no idea what he is?"

"Teagan..." Avery began to say, pleading with her to be nice. The brunette scoffed, but kept her mouth shut out of respect for her blonde friend. She felt Isaac pulling her closer to him, trying to calm her down. She didn't even mean to snap at Derek, she was just stressed about everything going on. Too much was hitting them all at once.

"This is a little out of my experience." Derek stated, as he looked over at Teagan, answering her earlier question.

"Before you all showed up, I searched in my mother's journals, but so far I haven't seen anything about this." Avery said. She squeezed Derek's hand, as she added,"If the Hales did know anything about it, my mother would know and she would have written it down."

"What about the bestiary? Could it be in there?" Isaac questioned.

"It's possible." Teagan answered. She glanced over at her boyfriend, as she added,"Earlier when I said we use to research as well as train, the bestiary was something we use to study."

Avery nodded her head along with Teagan, as she added,"But we never made it all the way through the book."

"Who has the book now?" Scott asked.

"Argent." Avery answered.

"Has anyone called him?" Derek questioned.

"I tried him earlier on the drive over here." Teagan answered.

"I'll try him again later." Avery offered, as her best friend nodded in agreement.

"Okay, hold on." Parrish spoke up, getting their attention. "What's a bestiary? Actually, that's not even my first question. Just... Just tell me one thing. Are all of you like Avery and Lydia? Are you all psychic?"

"Psychic?" Derek asked with an amused expression, wondering what made him think that.

"You think I'm psychic?" Avery asked Parrish.

"I think you're something." Parrish said back, as he looked at the blonde. Remembering all the times he had seen in the middle of a weird situation. Most recently catching her and Lydia in the Walcott house. The two girls were able to find something the police never could.

"When you came to the station to show me the list, I noticed I wasn't the only one on it. You were too." Parrish said to her. He glanced around at the group, as he added,"Actually a lot of you were." His gaze fell on Teagan, as he continued,"Except for you. You weren't on the list."

"That's cause I'm human." Teagan explained.

"Then what are the rest of you?" Parrish asked.

Derek looked over at Scott, raising his eyebrows to tell him to show Parrish. The alpha turned to the deputy and took a deep breath as he forced his eyes to glow red, showing Parrish exactly what he was.

Parrish blew out a breath, surprised at seeing the younger boy's eyes. He glanced around at the others as he asked if all of their eyes did that. Isaac announced that his glow yellow, causing the deputy to ask what that meant.

For the next several minutes, everyone spread out in the room as they all explained to him about the difference between an alpha, beta and omega. The difference in the eye colors, then went around telling him what each of them were as well as what some of their other friends were, trying to quickly catch him up before they talked more about the dead-pool.

"What's a kanima?" Parrish asked.

"We'll get back to that." Scott said. "Right now, the most important thing is stopping the dead-pool."

Avery nodded her head in agreement, as she glanced over at Parrish, before saying,"Like you said, you've seen the list, you've seen us all on it. Everyone with some kind of supernatural ability is on it."

"But I don't even know what I am." Parrish pointed out, as his eyes locked with the blonde.

"I'm pretty sure they don't care." Derek said back, as he wrapped an arm around Avery's waist.

"How many professional assassins are we talking about?" Parrish asked, as he glanced away from the couple and turned his attention to the others.

"We're starting to lose count." Lydia breathed out, as she paced a little back and forth.

"But is it still just professionals?" Scott wondered out loud.

"I don't think Haigh's ever tried anything like this. I think he was taking a chance." Parrish said.

"That means anyone with the dead pool could take a chance." Derek stated.

"But if Haigh had it, then who else does? How easy is it to get this thing now?" Parrish questioned.

"That's what we're trying to figure out." Avery said.

"And why we're trying to stop it." Teagan softly added, as she leaned against Isaac's side, remembering her dreams.

"Is there anyone who you can ask, who can help you figure it out?" Parrish asked, as he looked at the group.

"There was." Lydia softly said, thinking of Meredith.

"Wait, is that why you two needed to see Meredith? Is she involved with this somehow?" Parrish asked.

"She knew something." Teagan said, remembering when she and Isaac went to her about the dreams. She knew Meredith knew something, but wouldn't tell her.

"She definitely knew more than she was saying." Avery added, as she nodded her head in agreement with her best friend.

"But she was also out of her mind." Isaac pointed out. "How do we know we can trust the things she did tell us before?"

"Cause she has helped us before." Teagan said, reminding him of the time she helped them find Lydia.

"She also helped us with a code." Avery added.

"And she knew of my grandmother." Lydia stated, getting everyone's attention. "All of that can not coincidence."

"Wait, Meredith and Lorraine knew each other?" Avery asked, as she looked over at Lydia.

"She was only at grandmother's lake house once. But I think once was enough." Lydia answered.

"How did your grandmother know her?" Derek asked.

"She didn't." Lydia answered.

"But you said-"

"I said Meredith knew of my grandmother." Lydia said, interrupting Isaac. "My grandmother found Meredith. Because of another woman named Maddy."

"Wait... Maddy?" Teagan asked with wide eyes. She remembered the first dream she had, she heard the name Maddy.

Lydia nodded her head, as she said,"The woman grandmother loved. I never met her, but I saw her name everywhere."

"I've heard the name." Teagan said, getting everyone's attention. "She's dead, isn't she?"

As Lydia nodded her head, Parrish spoke up and asked,"How did she die?"

"How's not the story. It's what happened right before." Lydia said. She glanced over at Teagan, she could tell from her friend's face, that somehow she already knew how Maddy died. She softly said Teagan's name, wanting her to tell the story, to tell what she knew.

"Your grandmother heard the rain. Loud, pouring rain. The start of a major storm, but when she looked outside, all she saw was clear, blue skies. But the rain kept getting louder and louder, just pounding in her head until she had to scream." Teagan felt Isaac pulling her closer to him, trying to comfort her, as she continued,"She called Maddy, but.."

"All Maddy saw was clear skies too." Lydia finished for her, as she stared at her brunette friend. "So grandmother didn't say anything, she thought maybe she just imagined the whole thing, and Maddy took one of the boats out on the lake."

"There was an accident?" Parrish questioned, getting Lydia's attention.

Lydia nodded her head, then looked back over at Teagan, as she asked,"How did you know?"

"I dreamed it." Teagan answered. She glanced at the others, as she added,"I've been having dreams. Memories from someone."

The others, aside from Isaac and Avery were a little shocked. Teagan never told the others much about the dreams, only cause she knew they had so much other stuff on their minds, which was also why she only told Avery about the first dream. Isaac was the only one she really talked about the dreams with.

Teagan glanced at Isaac for a moment, before looking at the others and continuing,"We're been trying to figure out who was sending me these dreams, these clues, and now I know exactly who it is." She looked over at Lydia, as she said,"It's Lorraine."

"What were the other dreams?" Scott asked.

"I saw the record player." Teagan said. She looked back at Lydia again, as she added,"The one in your grandmother's room. The one the first code came from."

"Grandmother took Meredith to that room." Lydia said. She explained about how after losing Maddy her grandmother spent decades trying to figure out how she knew about Maddy's death before it happened. She explained that she started with parapsychologists. Then she built the study in the lake house according to every pseudoscientific theory they could find. None of it worked. She then started going to more extreme occult. Things like mediums and psychics, all of them were failures. Until she found Meredith.

"My grandmother drove her insane, I drove her to suicide. And all she ever wanted to do was help." Lydia said. Teagan and Avery opened their mouths to argue, to tell Lydia she wasn't to blame for Meredith, but before they could say a word, Lydia pulled out a sheet of paper, the one she already shown Teagan earlier that day.

"My grandmother created the code for the dead pool. Maybe she's the banshee who put the names out in the first place." Lydia said. She held out the piece of paper, as she added,"She left me this message in the same code."

"But she didn't leave a cipher key, did she?" Scott questioned.

Lydia shook her head, then looked over at Teagan as she asked,"I don't suppose she gave you the key in any of the dreams?"

"No. None of the dreams make sense. It's just like, different clues, different pieces." Teagan answered. She thought about the last dream, then added,"But she says I know the answer. I just need to put the pieces together."

"So what do we do now?" Parrish questioned.

"I guess I have a puzzle to put together." Teagan said, hoping she could interpret her dreams before it was too late.

**~()~**

After Lydia had left to take Parrish back to his house, she was supposed to meet up with Stiles' who had left the hospital a little while ago after his dad had fell asleep. The two teens were going to try and work on cracking the last and final code to the new list that Lydia had found.

Teagan sat on the couch with her head lowered into her hands as Isaac rubbed a loving and comforting hand over her back to try and calm her down.

"This is so much worse now… regular, everyday people getting their hands on the lists and taking chances, like Haigh did." She breathed, her voice muffled against her hands as she rubbed her tired face.

"How can that be worse than professional assassins?" Isaac questioned.

Rolling her eyes Avery explained, "Because Isaac! That means literally anyone who manages to get their hands on that last can take a shot at any one of us… it could people we go to school with, anyone at all and we'd never see it coming."

He lowered his head in defeat knowing the best friend's were right.

Scott stood by the long table that often doubled as a desk in the center of the sparsely furnished loft, his eyes fell to one of many handguns laying out. Carefully the picked it up and looked the weapon over until Derek entered the room and warned him, "Careful with that…"

"For someone who hates guns… you've got a lot of them here." Scott observed as he handed Derek the gun who stared down to it for a moment before he laid it back down on the table.

"Yeah." Isaac agreed, glancing up to Teagan as she stood up before he added in, "And why are they all just laying out?"

Avery bit down on her bottom lip and hung her head as she crossed her arms over her chest avoiding Teagan's gaze as her best friend stepped up and surveyed the table holding not only several guns but also daggers and various other combat weapons.

"A…"

"You guys it's getting kind of late and…" The blonde quickly tried to say but Teagan cut her off as she said, "This is the exact same set up Allison used when she first started training us on weapons…"

Scott looked between Avery and Derek as the couple exchanged looks before looking back to their friends.

"Maybe she's training Derek." Isaac joked with a laugh as he crossed the room and curled an arm his girlfriend, but his smile quickly fell as he realized he was the only one laughing.

"What's going on?" Teagan demanded to know, her gaze heavy on her best friend who shifted uncomfortably and looked at Derek.

When no one said anything Scott questioned, "Does this have something to do with your eyes?"

Not making eye contact Derek admitted to them, "My eyes, my strength… my healing, all of it."

A look of shock fell over Scott's face as he stared at him and Isaac asked, "Wait… you mean all of that, the healing and your strength… even your senses, that's all gone?"

"Whatever Kate did to me, it's still happening." He admitted as he looked between everyone's shocked expressions.

Clearing her throat Avery admitted, "That's why I couldn't kill Kate at the hospital…" Her eyes drifted over to Derek as she continued to explain to her friends, "We've been researching every single day… I've read every family journal and related book that I could get my hands on and I don't know what she did to him or how to reverse it."

Blowing out a heavy breath Scott admitted, "I knew something was wrong since we got the third key figured out."

"What are you talking about?" Teagan and Derek asked at the same time before they shot each other slightly angry looks, both seemingly entirely annoyed by the other one's presence.

Avery walked over to Derek and reached down as she grabbed onto his hand as she laced their fingers together and shot him an apologetic look as she quietly said, "I'm sorry…"

"You didn't tell him?" Scott asked, surprise on his face as he looked at his emissary.

"I don't think she told anyone." Isaac announced as he motioned between himself, his girlfriend and Derek as he continued, "Cause it doesn't seem like I'm the only confused one."

Avery gave him an unamused expression before she stared at Scott as Derek asked her, "Avery, what is going on?"

"Yeah, that's what I want to know too." Teagan agreed.

But when Scott saw the look on her face he felt bad for her and said, "Derek…"

Once everyone's eyes were the on the alpha he continued, "If the dead-pool really was made a banshee, then there's something else you should know…" He shook his head trying to figure out the best way to break the news before finally sighing, "Your name broke the third list… it was the cypher key."

Avery looked down relieved to see he hadn't pulled his hand away from hers in anger of her keeping that from him.

Teagan leaned against Isaac's side, her gaze lingering on the blonde who was staring down towards the floor.

"And the other two keys were Allison and Aiden…" Derek quietly realized, understanding why Avery had volunteered the information to him.

"They're both dead though." Isaac announced.

"Isaac!" Teagan hissed as she roughly nudged his side and shook her head when she saw Avery pulled in a deep, shaky breath like she was trying to hold it all together.

"What?" He whispered then clarified, "I'm just saying maybe it's some kind of mix up or something…"

"Or it's not." Teagan whispered back to him, hoping Avery couldn't hear her.

"I don't want to make you nervous but it feels like there might be a pattern there; Allison, Aiden… you." Scott continued.

"Names picked by a banshee." Derek nodded.

Teagan looked around the loft, her breathing growing a little shallow as she realized that this meant. Whatever Kate had done to Derek was going to end with him dying, her dark brown eyes went to her best friend and she knew if that happened Avery wouldn't be okay. Another chill set in and she swallowed hard, still feeling like she was running out of time.

"You just might be in danger." Scott said, his voice barely over a whisper.

"Scott…" Derek sighed, as he stared at the teenager and pointed out, "Banshee's don't predict danger… they predict death."

A little while later the teens were leaving the loft and Avery offered to walk them out, but when the elevator opened on the first floor Teagan nodded for Isaac to go on that she'd catch up and told Scott bye.

Once they were gone she turned to her best friend and asked, "A, why didn't you tell me?"

Tears burnt her eyes as she stared at back at the brunette and questioned, "Tell you what, T? That since Derek's name is the third key he's probably dying?"

Teagan opened her mouth to say something but Avery cut her off, "He told me months ago that he was noticing changes with his powers and I watched everything slowly fade from him until he wasn't even healing fast anymore."

Teagan's chin quivered as she saw a tear roll down her best friend's cheek.

"You should have told me… I would have tried to help." Teagan said, her voice a little hoarse as she spoke.

"Like you told me about all of the dreams you've been having?" Avery countered.

Nodding Teagan blew out a breath, "I knew you were dealing with a lot… I just didn't know you were dealing with all of this. I'm sorry."

Shrugging and still fighting back tears Avery admitted, "I don't know, I guess I felt like if everyone didn't know then it wasn't as real… it was just easier not to think about it and I couldn't do that if everyone was going to be looking at me with some sympathetic expression."

Teagan nodded as she stepped forward wrapping her in a hug and as she whispered, "We'll figure this out, we have too. There has to be a solution… to this and the dead-pool we're just not looking in the right places or something. But we'll figure this out because after everything we've been something's got to give… something has to work out."

"I love him, T." Avery hoarsely whispered back, "God, I love him so much… and I can't lose him."

Pulling back from the hug she reminded her, "It's like Allison told us… there is always a way out. We just have to keep looking. There has to be a way to save Derek."

**~(The next day)~**

The next day, despite everything else going on, Teagan and Isaac pulled themselves out of bed and went to school. He spent the whole night going over every clue, every piece she was giving by Lorraine, trying to find a pattern, trying to solve the puzzle.

Teagan caught a few naps in the middle of it all, for once hoping to have another dream, to have more clues, but Lorraine never visited her. The only clues she had were the ones from before, but nothing made sense to her.

Isaac suggested they just skip school, but Teagan thought, or rather hoped, by returning to normal activities maybe something would come to her. She sat in her first few classes, doodling in her notebook, only half paying attention to her teachers. All she needed was for one thing make sense, just one piece to fit, then she felt like the rest would fall into place.

When the bell rang to end class, she grabbed her stuff and made her way to her locker, knowing Isaac would meet up with her there before they went to lunch together. She tossed her books into the locker and slammed the door shut, hearing the noise echoing in her ear.

All other noises around her died down, until only one noise was coming through, the noise of waves crashing, just like in her last dream. She heard all the splashing like before and glanced up, the fluorescent light from above shining in her eyes like the sun would.

She closed her eyes, hoping Lorraine would speak to her, hoping she would tell her something, but instead all she heard was a ringing noise. It took her a few seconds to realize it was her cell phone.

When she opened her eyes, the crashing noise was gone and instead all she heard was the other students laughing and talking as they headed for the lunch room. Hearing her cell phone ringing again, she reached into her purse, pulling it out and seeing that it was Lydia.

She answered the call and placed the phone against her ear, but before she could say anything, she heard Lydia call out her name, followed by Stiles saying,"Please tell me you've got good news for us."

Realizing she was on speaker, she said out to the both of them,"Isn't that what I should be saying to you two?"

"If we have cracked the code it would be good news." Lydia pointed out.

"Tell me you've had another dream, T." Stiles said. "Or at the least you've been able to piece together the other dreams and know what the code is now."

Teagan blew out a breath, as she ran a hand through her hair, before saying,"I wish I could." When she heard Stiles let out a disappointed sigh, followed by a curse word, she added,"I'm trying, okay? But none of the clues make sense!"

"We know. Stiles is just being... Stiles." Lydia pointed out.

"Yeah, it's not your fault, T." Stiles added. "I just.. It shouldn't be this hard. Why is it so hard?"

He paused for a moment, thinking hard, then snapped his fingers, as he said,"Try Maddy. It's got to be Maddy."

"Doesn't Maddy feel a little obvious as a cipher key?" Lydia pointed out.

"It's not going to be Maddy, Stiles." Teagan added.

"I guarantee it's Maddy." Stiles argued.

Lydia rolled her eyes as she typed the name out and just like she expected an error popped up. Telling her the name was wrong. Stiles groaned out in frustration, as he paced back and forth behind Lydia, trying to think of something else to try.

"Okay, your name. She left the code for you, right? So it's got to be your name." Stiles suggested, but just like before, when Lydia typed it in, an error popped up. "Your mom's name?" He questioned, which was also wrong once she typed it in.

"Do you have any beloved family pets?" He asked.

"It's not going to be anything like that." Teagan pointed out. "The answer is in the dreams if I can just figure out what the message is."

"What was your last dream?" Stiles asked.

"I was at the beach." Teagan answered.

Stiles looked over at Lydia as he asked,"Does the beach mean anything to you? Did you two go to the beach?" As Lydia shook her head, he asked,"What did you two do?"

"We read." Lydia answered.

"Oh, my God, the book." Teagan breathed out, remember the dream she had about a book. She knew the book felt familiar to her, it was the book Lorraine would read with her, Avery and Lydia all the time. "And the mermaids... She was right. She was right! I did know the answer, I knew it all along."

"What are you talking about?" Stiles asked the brunette confused on what she was rambling on about.

Teagan ignored his questioned as she called out to the red head,"Lydia, the book. The book we would always read with Lorraine."

"The Little Mermaid." Lydia said, realizing what Teagan was trying to say.

"You all read that movie?" Stiles asked confused.

"It was a book first. Hans Christian Andersen." Lydia pointed out. She tried to type in 'little mermaid', then tried 'mermaid, but none of the words were right.

"We use to pretend we were the mermaids." Teagan added. "Avery was Andrina..."

"Teagan was Attina..." Lydia continued.

"And Lydia was..." Teagan began to say, until her eyes widen, realizing what the code was. She called out,'Ariel' at the same time Lydia began to type the word in. The red head blew out a breath, when the word was accepted and a list of names began to pop up.

"What names are on the list?" Teagan asked, wondering who all was on this list.

"The only name I know is my grandmother." Lydia answered.

Teagan opened her mouth to say something else, until she saw Liam sitting on a step down the hall looking upset about something. Speaking into the phone she said,"Look, I need to go, but keep me updated on this list, okay?"

After Lydia and Stiles promised to call her later with an update, she ended the call then walked over to Liam. She sat down on the step beside him, as she asked him what was wrong.

"Last night my printer went off by itself. I couldn't turn it off. I hit the cancel button. But it just kept printing."

"Printing what?" Teagan asked confused.

Liam turned his head to look at her, looking even more upset than before she sat down beside him. He handed her a sheet of paper, which she began to unfold, but before she could look at it, they heard coach yelling out, causing them to jump up and run over toward his office.

Teagan's eyes widen as she saw his printer spitting out papers, one right after another one. She reached down to pick up one of the many pieces of paper laying on the floor, then looked over at Liam as her heart began to race.

She and Liam stepped off to the side, as she looked down at the pieces of paper again, the one Liam handed her and the one from coach's office floor, both were an updated version of the dead-pool.

"This can't be happening." Teagan whispered, as she felt tears fill her eyes.

"You see the difference?" Liam questioned.

"Derek's not on the list anymore." Teagan said, with a pained look on her face. Derek might not be her favorite person, but she would never wish death on him. She knew what that would do to Avery. Just knowing he wasn't on the list anymore should have brought piece of mind, but she knew that wasn't the reason he was off of it now.

"And I'm not worth three million. It's 18 now. $18 million." Liam stated, as he listed off the other difference. "You see the other thing, right? The new name?" He questioned.

Teagan raised her head to look at him, a tear falling down her face, as she nodded her head, but didn't say a word. She didn't want to say the name out loud, if she did, it made it all too real. But that didn't stop Liam from saying,"It's you, Teagan. You're on the list now."

"I, uh... I.." Teagan began to say, as she took a few deep breaths, trying to stay in control of her emotions. She couldn't fall apart, not in front of Liam. She had to be strong for the freshman; who looked scared out of his mind. She blew out a nervous breath, as she plastered a smile on her face. She patted his shoulder, as she said,"It's going to be okay."

"How?" Liam questioned. "I'm worth more now and you're worth 200 thousand. How is that okay?"

"I don't know, but we'll-we'll figure it out." Teagan breathed out, as she looked over his shoulders and saw Isaac down the hall. She looked back at Liam, as she said,"Nothing is going to happen to you, okay? We're going to protect you."

"Who's going to protect you?" Liam asked.

Teagan ignored his question, as she flashed him another smile, before telling him to go grab some lunch and she'll talk to him later. He gave her a short nod, then walked past her to make his way down the hallway.

She glanced back over to Isaac, wanting to run to him, but too scared to move. He lowered his eyebrows in concern, as he made his way over to her. He opened his mouth to ask her what was wrong, but before he could, she threw herself into his arms and held him tight.

"Hey, babe, look at me.." He began to say, as he tried to pull back to look at her, but she just held on to him even tighter. When he felt her shaking in his arms, he really became concern.

"Hey, Teagan, hey, you got to let go, babe. You got to let me look at you." Isaac said, as he tried to pull back to look at her. He couldn't fix what was wrong if he can't see it. When she finally pulled back to look at him and he saw the tears in her eyes, he asked,"What's wrong?"

"Come on." Teagan mumbled, as she grabbed his arm and led him over to a men's restroom.

After they walked inside, Isaac locked the door to give them privacy as Teagan made sure they were the only ones in the room. She turned to look at Isaac, handing him the pieces of paper in her hand. He looked down at them, at first confused on what the problem was until he saw it; until he saw her name and felt his heart drop.

He raised his head to look at her, finally understanding why she looked so terrified. Seeing her name on the dead-pool caused the same reaction for him. As much as he hated seeing his own name when the list first appeared, he could handle that, but seeing her name with a price beside it, that he couldn't handle.

"It's not going to happen." Isaac said, as he shook his head. He crumbled up the list in his hand, then reached out with his free hand to lay it on the side of her neck. "You hear me, it's not going to happen. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'm getting you off this list."

"Isaac, we don't even know how to stop it. There's no way to get a name off." Teagan pointed out.

"I don't care!" Isaac yelled out. "You're not staying on this list. No one.. No one is taking you from me. It's not happening... It-"

"Shh, I know." Teagan interrupted, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her forehead against his.

"I'm not losing you, Teagan." Isaac whispered, before pressing his lips against her. "It's you and me, always, remember?" He mumbled out before kissing her again.

Teagan gripped his shoulders as she moved her lips against his, desperate to hold on to him. She wanted to believe his words, but all she could hear was when Lorraine told her time was running out. She felt a chill, causing her to hold on to Isaac tighter, as she mumbled out,"Always."

**~()~**

Avery laid snuggled against Derek's side in his bed, with her head resting on his chest as she kept her eyes closed listening to the sound of his heartbeat, and for the moment that was the greatest sound in the world to her. It was proof that he was still alive, that he was still there with her which meant there was still hope.

She'd woke up late for school that day and had gotten dressed planning to make it to at least her after lunch classes, that was until she got a call from Teagan letting her know that she herself was on the list now. But that wasn't the only change; Derek wasn't on the dead-pool anymore and now Liam was worth a lot more than he had been.

After that devastating news she'd crawled back into the bed with Derek, who had still been sleeping at the time. But now hours later, they were both awake just lying in silence as he kept an arm around her and every so often would smooth her hair down, just small comforting gestures.

Finally she opened her eyes and asked, "Why aren't you mad at me?"

Raising his head from the pillow he looked down to where she still laying against him as he guessed, "For not telling me my name was the third cypher key?"

Silently she nodded.

Laying his head back down he shrugged, "I'm just not."

"But why, you have every right to be… if the situation were reversed, I'd probably be pissed." She quietly admitted.

"I'm not mad… I guess because I know you did for the same reasons I wouldn't have told you if the situation were reversed." He admitted, causing her to raise her head and look at him.

Softly she reasoned out loud, "You knew didn't you… not about the cypher key, but you knew that whatever Kate did –that it wasn't ending with you turning human, that things were going to get worse…"

"I had my suspicions." He admitted, "This place on my side has barely started to heal and I'm tired all of the time…"

Sliding out of his arm she sat up and said, "So that's why you've been doing all of this stuff then, right?"

Sitting up he faced her with his forehead lined in confusion as he asked, "What are you talking about?"

In a hopeless tone she said, "All of this really sweet, normal couple stuff… that's why you're so determined to make up for everything you did wrong because you think you're dying and you want to make amends?"

"No." He asserted, scooting closer as he grabbed onto her hand and assured her, "I'm doing all of that because I love you and because this is what I want-" He started to say but she cut him off.

"What are you saying?" She demanded to know, as she looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.

Leaning in he kissed her before he pulled back and admitted, "I'm saying that this…" He motioned between them, "Is what I want. I want a life with you."

Tears stung her eyes as she looked at him and agreed, "You're all I want… you're all I've ever wanted."

With smile of disbelief he leaned in and kissed her again before he said, "For that long, huh?"

Managing a small, weak laugh she looked down to their hands and said, "It's true. I told you I had the biggest crush on you while I was growing up."

Laughing he nodded, "Yeah, but-"

"But nothing!" She exclaimed laughing louder, "It's true, it's so true… you don't even understand."

He couldn't help but smile at the sound of her laugh, as he said, "Then tell me."

"When Teagan and I were in grade school, my parents took this trip to France and I was staying with Teagan's family."

He nodded and waited for her to go on.

"Her mom would substitute as a school nurse sometimes at the high school and she'd picked us up after school and took us with her back to work because there some sort of sports thing going on where they needed a few nurses to make it go faster, I think it had something do to with processing paper work and making sure the athletes were up to date on their shots. I don't remember… but what I do remember is Teagan was so jealous that my parents bought my this brand new gel pen set before they left and her parent's couldn't really afford to get her one…" Laughing Avery added, "She kept trying to get me to give her some, saying that I had more gel pens than any one person needed and several of them were identical."

Derek continued to smile as he watched her ramble on, but asked, "What does that have to do with me?"

"Because while Teagan was going on and on about the pens, I too busy staring at the high school basketball players" She admitted, looking down to here he was rubbing his thumb over the back over hand.

"What?" He asked with a laughed.

Nodding Avery said, "You were showing off with a few of the other players just down the hallway from us, pushing each other and trying to get the ball… which you always managed to get and dribble it away from them." Avery looked down seeing the memory in her head, "And I just thought you were the most amazing thing I'd ever seen… I didn't even pay attention to what Teagan was saying, I just nodded every time she asked me something and I ended up agreeing to let her have an entire half of the pen set."

Derek laughed then he looked at her as he said, "Wait…" He had a thoughtful loon on his face as he started to remember back too, "I think I remember this…"

"No you don't!" Avery loudly exclaimed laughing.

"No, I do… kind of, at least…" He thought back and asked, "Didn't Teagan steal the basketball?"

"Oh my god, you do remember!" Avery yelled as she let go of his hand and covered her face, in a muffled voice she said, "That's so embarrassing!"

"It is not." He laughed, before asking, "How'd she even end up getting it?"

"You and your friends got called into the nurse's office and left the ball on the bench across the hallway from us and I grabbed it. I was going to wait until you came out and give it to you, just because I was always looking for some reason to be around you." She admitted laughing, "But once Teagan saw what I did she flipped out, she got so shy and nervous that she stuffed the ball into her book bag, but it was too big and she took her coat off and tried to tuck it around the ball so no one could see. But oh my god, it was the most obvious thing ever."

"I remember that part!" He said, shaking his head, "I remember I came back out of the office but the ball was gone and I saw it in her book bag, but she looked terrified." He laughed, "I remember thinking that if some little girl wanted a basketball bad enough she was willing to steal it then I was just going to let her keep it."

"Well she didn't keep it… but I did."

"You what?" Derek asked her with raised eyebrows.

Avery nodded, "That basketball sat on top of my dresser for at least a year, it was my most prized possession." She laughed, "In fact, I'm pretty sure it's still in a box in the garage or basement… not sure which one, but even after the fire and thinking I'd lost my mom and you moving away… I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it."

He watched her closely as she shrugged and softly said, "I don't know, there was just always something about you… I was so drawn to you."

Gently holding onto her chin, Derek pulled her face to his as he pressed a passionate kiss to her lips before pulling back and resting his forehead against hers as the former lighthearted tone of their conversation was now passed and all that was left was the stress of their current situation.

"It's not fair… in what universe is it remotely fair that something finally goes right in my life –I've got you… and then now I might lose you." Her tone was unsure and shaky as she fought back tears, "I can't lose you… I just can't."

He nodded softly, his forehead still against hers as he saw a tear roll down her cheek he said, "It's not over yet, I'm not giving up… I'm fighting."

"We have to find out what Kate did to you… we have to find out and reverse it." Avery said, hoping there was a way to reverse it.

"I know, but she's not going to come out of hiding while her name is still on that dead-pool." He reminded her.

Pulling back Avery looked at him with wide eyes, "You're right… but if we stop the dead-pool, find out who the benefactor is and stop them, she'll show her face again."

Nodding Derek agreed, "The only problem is, we still have no idea who it is."

"And in the meantime we need to keep everyone on the dead-pool safe…" Her voice trailed off and she turned pale.

"What's wrong?" He asked immediately worried.

"If Deputy Haigh knew about the dead-pool, if he was smart enough to put it together then who's to say he's the only one on the police for that did?" She questioned.

Standing up from the bed she looked at him as she pointed out, "Isaac asked what's scarier than professional assassins, the answer is cops-turned-assassins. Think about it… Jordan

told me that he only makes forty thousand a year and money can make people do crazy things."

Understanding what she was saying he stood up and went to grab his jacket out of the closet as he questioned, "So we need to talk to Deputy Haigh?"

"Yeah… we have to." Avery agreed as she pulled on her own jacket and felt her pocket for her keys.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, xxxRena and Exuberance of Youth for reviewing the last chapter!**


	38. Let It Burn

**Chapter Thirty Eight – Let It Burn**

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><p>Isaac pulled the car into the school parking lot and turned the car off, but didn't get out. He was still sitting behind the wheel, when Teagan opened the passenger side door and stepped out. Most of the school had already showed up for the bonfire, she could see a metal cyclone on fire and hear the loud music from the DJ booth.<p>

She went to shut the car door, until she realized Isaac wasn't moving inside the car. She leaned back into the car, as she asked,"Are you getting out?"

"I guess." Isaac mumbled, as he opened the door and stepped out, as Teagan walked around the car to meet up with him. "I just don't understand why we are here." He added, as she came to a stop in front of him.

"Because, despite everything going on, all the assassins and dead-pool, your first game is coming up and we should celebrate that." Teagan stated. She moved her hands to the front of her coat to unbutton it and reveal what she had on underneath, as she added,"Plus I want everyone to know how proud I am of my man."

Isaac softly smiled when he saw she was wearing one of his jerseys. She had it tied in the back and was wearing a white tank top underneath. Seeing her wear his number did make him happy, but after seeing her name on the list, having her locked up at home and safe, would make him even happier.

"I love you for that..." Isaac began to say, as he laid his hands on her hips. A concern look appeared on his face, as he added,"But this game is the last thing on my mind. I don't even care about the upcoming game anymore, all I care about is you. Keeping you safe and keeping you protected." He brushed a lock of hair that had escaped her ponytail from her face, as he added,"We should be hiding, not attending bonfires surrounded by people who could be carrying a hit list in their back pockets."

Teagan shook her head, as she said,"You know, it's funny, when the list first came out, that is exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted you to hide, Isaac, but you said-"

"I know what I said." Isaac interrupted. "I said I wasn't going to hide, I wasn't going to show any of those assholes that want me dead that I'm scared." He added, repeating what he said the day she wanted him not to play in the scrimmage. "And I still mean what I said, I'm not scared of them for me, Teagan, but I am terrified for you. I can heal, but you can't." He pointed out.

"Believe me, I'm just as terrified as you are. I don't want to die, Isaac, and I don't want you to either." Teagan began to say, as tears filled her eyes. She laid her hands on either side of his face, as she said,"I want to live a long life with you. I want to go to college, I want to marry you, I want to buy a house together... maybe even a little puppy friend for Aspen. Or a cat named Teasaac."

Isaac chuckled at her last comment, remembering the funny dream she had about them getting a cat and naming it after them. He laid his hands on her back, pulling her closer to him, as he said something that completely surprised her,"Maybe start a family one day."

Seeing the look on her face, he smiled, as he said,"I never said never, Teagan." She knew how he felt about having kids. He told her he didn't plan on having any, that he was too scared of turning into his father. He laid a hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, as he continued,"I want whatever you want. I'll go where ever you want to go, but in order to do that, we have to be alive."

"I agree, but..." She paused, as she remembered Lorraine's words, telling her specifically that she was running out of time. There was only one way she could take that comment.

"But what?" Isaac asked, seeing her deep in thought.

"But maybe you can't fight fate." Teagan softly said, as her eyes began to water.

"What are you trying to say, Teagan?" Isaac asked. "Cause it sounds like you're giving up and that's not an option."

"I'm on the dead-pool, Isaac, and Lorraine told me I'm running out of time. That can't be a coincidence." Teagan pointed out. "When mom was haunting me, I tried so hard to keep her away, to keep myself from slipping away, but what If I wasn't meant to? What if I wasn't suppose to survive that and since then I've just been living on borrowed time and now my time is up?"

"I don't believe that. I refuse to believe that, Teagan." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "After all the bad we've seen and went up against, I refuse to believe someone good, someone honestly like you only has a short life ahead of them."

"What about Allison?" Teagan softly asked, as a tear ran down her face. "She died saving us, Isaac. She was good, she was a hero and her life was too short. Why didn't she get a long life? Why was she taken from us?"

"I don't know." Isaac answered honestly. He blew out a breath, as he added,"I wish I had the answers for you, but I don't. I don't know why the hero dies while the villain walks away, but one thing I do know is I'm not losing you, Teagan." He laid his hands on either side of her neck, as he continued,"I know you're scared and I know sometimes you're probably tired of the fight. I never wanted my world to cause you pain, but I've seen you, Teagan, you're a fighter, you're a badass and we're not going to let anyone make predictions on your life. I don't care what some ghostly banshee says in your dreams or how many list your name might be on, cause at the end of the day, it's going to be you and me." He wiped the tears off of her face, as he softly added,"You and me, we're everything."

Teagan softly smiled at his words as she pressed her lips against his for a tender kiss. She felt him run a hand up her back, to cradle the back of her head, as he kept the kiss going for a little longer. He rested his forehead against hers as he blew out a breath, before quietly saying,"I need you to keep fighting, babe. I need you to stay with me, okay?"

Teagan nodded her head, as she pulled back to look at him. She gave him a small smile before whispering out,"It's you and me, always."

"Always." Isaac repeated, as he wiped a few more stray tears from her face. He grabbed her hand and nodded his head toward the crowd, as he asked,"You still want to go to this?"

"Yeah." Teagan breathed out. She gave him a genuine smile, as she added,"We can't hide, remember? We have to fight, no matter what we keep fighting."

"That's my girl." Isaac said with a smile, as he brought their joined hands up to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.

With their hands still joined together, Teagan and Isaac began to walk across the parking lot and toward the loud crowd. They stood off to the side, just watching all their peers having the time of their lives and wished they could join in, but there was too much going on in both of their heads. They couldn't just push things aside and cut loose.

They had only been standing silently for a few minutes when Scott walked over to them, giving out a friendly greeting to them. The trio made small talk for a little bit, until Scott looked over at Teagan, as he said,"I heard about the updated list. I'm sorry, Teagan, I don't know why you are on it."

"I got too close, I guess." Teagan guessed with a shrug.

"It's doesn't matter how she got on it. Nothing is going to happen to her." Isaac said confidently, as he squeezed her hand.

"He's right, Teagan, we're not going to let anything happen to you." Scott said in agreement. A sad look appeared on his face, as he added,"We're not losing anyone else."

Teagan gave him a smile in thanks, which he returned. He opened his mouth to say more, until someone caught his eye. He saw Malia off to the side, dancing and drinking from a silver flask. He nodded his head over to the girl, before saying to the couple that he would talk to them later, he wanted to check on the werecoyote.

Teagan watched Scott walked over to Malia and began to talk to her, then turned her head off to the side. She lowered her eyebrows when she saw Liam sitting with his friend Mason. She saw him pouring something out of a bottle into a soda bottle. She couldn't see the other bottle since a paper bag was around it, but if she had to guess it was a liquor bottle.

"What is he doing?" She asked out loud, as she watched him turn up the soda bottle, drinking it all in one swallow.

"I think he's trying to get drunk." Isaac answered.

"Did someone forget to tell him werewolves can't get drunk." Teagan stated.

"He just better be glad Avery isn't running around with her secret powder." Isaac pointed out. "That stuff hits you fast and before you know it, you're drunk off your ass. I have never been that drunk before, even before I was turned. Not something I want to do again."

Teagan softly chuckled, as she remember the night she and Jackson had to go get Avery and Isaac from a bar. She was shocked to see how drunk he was.

"We should go talk to him." Isaac suggested, causing Teagan to turn her head to look at him with wide eyes. "What?" He asked at the look she was giving him.

"I just never thought I would see the day when you suggest we go talk to him. I thought you hated Liam." Teagan said.

"I never hated Liam. I just.. I was..."

"Jealous." Teagan finished for him.

Isaac blew out a breath, as he nodded his head and admitted,"Yeah, I was jealous." He looked over at the boy in questioned, seeing him drink another bottle full of liquor. It was easy to see that he wasn't dealing well with everything going on and one wrong move could send him on the wrong path.

With his own past, Isaac knew how easy it could have been for him to turn out completely different. If he didn't have Teagan, his other friends and even Derek as an alpha in the beginning, he could have taken the wrong path. Teagan told him before that Liam needed them, he needed a pack to help guild him and he was starting to see that she was right.

"But you were right before, he's just a kid." Isaac continued. He turned his head to look at his girlfriend, as he added,"And he needs us."

Teagan gave him a smile, as she squeezed his hand. She nodded toward Liam, as she said,"Come on."

The couple walked over to the young beta and his friend. They nodded their head at Mason, telling him hey, then Teagan turned her attention to Liam, as she asked him if he was okay.

"I'm feeling great." Liam stated, as he proudly held up his bottle.

"You can't get drunk, Liam." Isaac pointed out.

"Why? Cause I'm underage? Cause I'm a kid?" Liam questioned, thinking the couple were going to lecture him on underage drinking.

As Teagan shook her head, Isaac continued,"No, cause you're a..." He paused for a moment, noticing Mason was watching them and waiting for him to finish his sentence. He turned back to look at Liam, as he lied,"Cause you're a lacrosse player. We should be setting an example."

"Well, my buddy Mason here, thinks I should get drunk." Liam pointed out, as he laid an arm around his friend's shoulder. "He wants me to get stumbling down, fall on my ass, passed out with my face in a toilet drunk, and I think he's right." He looked over at his friend, as he added,"And you wanted me to find a nice girl to embarrass myself in front of and find you a lacrosse player too, right?" He turned his head to look at the couple in front of him, then turned back to Mason, as he nodded to them and said,"We have a nice girl and lacrosse player right here."

"I doubt he is on my team." Mason pointed out, as he looked over at Isaac.

"What team do you play..." Isaac began to ask until he realized what Mason meant. "Yeah, I'm definitely not on that team, sorry man." He added, as he wrapped an arm around Teagan's waist.

"But Teagan is a nice girl!" Liam stated, as he pointed to the brunette.

Isaac nodded his head, as he said,"Yeah and you are embarrassing yourself a little."

Liam laughed at his comment, then looked over at Teagan, as he said,"We should dance. Don't you think we should dance?"

"No, but I think we should get you something to drink." Teagan said back.

"Great plan!" Liam said with a clap, as he stood up and stumbled a little until Teagan rushed over to him and caught him. She looked over at Isaac, telling him she would be right back, as she led Liam over to one of the tables that were set out with drinks to buy.

She told Liam to stand there as she told the older woman, a teacher at the school, that she needed two bottle of waters. She paid for the drinks, then stepped aside, taking a quick sip of her drink before turning to hand Liam his drink.

When she saw him stumble again, she sat the bottles down on the table, as she reached out to grab the younger boy again before he could fall to the ground. She kept one arm around Liam, as she reached out to grab his bottle of water. She handed it to him, telling him to drink it.

As she went to walk away, completely forgetting her water, she heard someone called out,"Excuse me, miss?"

She turned her head to see a security guard holding out her bottle, as he added,"Don't forget your water."

"Thank you." Teagan said, as she took it from his hand and began to walk away; never noticing that he slipped something into her drink.

Teagan dragged Liam back over to Isaac and Mason; seeing that Scott and Malia was sitting with them now. She sat Liam down beside Mason, then turned to look at her friends. None of them could figure out how Liam or Malia were drunk. Without Avery's special bag of herbs, there was no way they should be.

Seeing Malia slumped over, Teagan kneeled down in front of her, brushing her hair out of her face, as she checked over her. She looked up at Scott, as she asked,"What did she have?"

"She said only vodka." Scott answered. He looked over at Liam, as he asked,"How much has he had?"

"Not enough to get him like this." Mason answered.

"Something weird is going on." Isaac stated.

Scott nodded his head, as he added,"We need to get them out of here."

"I'll call Avery." Teagan said. "She's been studying her mom's journals a lot lately. Maybe she has read something about this and knows of a way to stop it."

As Scott nodded his head at the idea, she told him to stay there with the others, as she and Isaac walked off to find a more quieter place to make a call. She took a big swallow of water, as she walked beside Isaac.

The couple walked past the crowd and stood close to the school building away from everyone. As Isaac came to a stop, she took a few more steps, as she reached into her coat pocket to grab her phone. She turned back around to speak to Isaac, surprised to see him bent over with his hands resting on his knees.

"Isaac?" She questioned, as she walked over to him. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, but I feel... I feel weak and dizzy, like I've been..."

"Drinking?" Teagan asked.

Isaac raised his head to look at her, but only saw her as a blur. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to get a clearer picture of her, but nothing worked. Realizing she had asked a questioned, he nodded his head, feeling even more dizzy, as he said,"Yeah, like drinking, but I-I didn't have anything." He blew out a breath, as he added,"Teagan, I swear, I didn't have anything."

"I believe you." Teagan breathed out, feeling faint suddenly.

"Are you okay?" He questioned, when he saw the look on her face and noticed how pale she was.

"I don't feel good all of a sudden." Teagan admitted.

"What the hell is going on?" Isaac growled out. As Teagan shook her head, he added,"Why are we all feeling bad now?"

"I dunno. It makes no sense." Teagan whispered out, as she rubbed her eyes, trying to keep them from closing.

"Unless Avery is running around spiking our drinks." Isaac joked, letting out a weak chuckle.

Teagan looked down at the bottle of water in her hand, remembering the security guard who handed her the bottle, as she said,"She's not, but maybe someone is."

Isaac leaned back against the wall, feeling his head spin. He opened his mouth, planning to ask her what she meant, but before he could say a word, he heard her softly saying his name, causing him to raise his head.

His vision was still blurry, but he could make her out as she began to fall to the ground. He wanted to move, he wanted to rush to her side and catch her, but he couldn't get to her in time. The most he could do was push himself away from the building just in time to see someone else catch her; it was a security guard.

He lowered his eyebrows in confusion as a couple of other security guards stepped up. One held her top half, as the other reached down to grabbed her legs. Isaac took a shaky step toward them as he called out to them.

The main guard, the one who caught Teagan, nodded his head toward Isaac, as he said,"Get him."

"Hey! Let her go." Isaac snarled. "You want a big pay day. Just take me. I'm worth 13, that is way more than you would make off of her." As the security guard walked closer to him, he held out a hand, as he pleaded,"Please, please don't take her. She's human. She's innocent. Just take me. Please, just take me."

The guard in front of Isaac, turned back to look at the main guard, waiting to see what he was going to say. The main guard looked down at the brunette, as he said,"Put her down. He's right, we'll make more off of him and the others."

As the guards tossed her to the ground, Isaac yelled out her name, hoping she was okay. He tried to take a step toward her, but stumbled and felt the guard in front of him grab him. He tried to get away from the man, but was too weak to move. All he could do was stare at his girlfriend, hoping to see her move, as they began to carry him away.

**~()~**

As Avery pulled to a stop outside of the station she and Derek got out of the car and she tucked her keys back inside of her pocket as she breathed, "Alright… since staff cutbacks they only keep a few officers in the station at night and with tonight being the bonfire chances are damn neared everyone will be out on patrol anyways looking for underage drinkers."

Derek nodded as he looked at the door and said, "So I've got what… like ten minutes to get what information I can out of Haigh?"

Nodding she said, "Yeah, ten… fifteen at the most but if you get in the information out of him in less than five you'd be my hero." She added with a wide smile.

Derek opened his mouth to say something but then stopped as he saw an officer pass in front of one of the windows and he said, "Uh, Avery…"

Looking over to where he was nodding she sighed at seeing a female officer through the window.

"New plan?" Derek asked with an amused expression.

"No." She rolled her eyes as she motioned down to her body and said, "This doesn't only work on guys you know."

When he continued to stare at her, she sighed, "Fine, you go and distract her and I'll get the information out of Haigh."

"Are you sure?" Derek asked, "If you want to try and…"

"You don't think I should be the one to question him?" She asked, her eyes searching her face as she spoke.

"It's not that it's just… this guy is facing some serious charges for what he's done, and our original plan for was you to flirt and distract the cop at the main desk so I could sneak in the room they're holding Haigh in. But like I said, he's facing some serious charges…" His eyes drifted over her face and then down her body as he blew out a heavy breath and admitted, "You're the most beautiful and also the hottest girl I've ever seen, but flirting is only going to get you so far."

With narrowed eyes she pointed a finger at him and whisper-yelled, "Okay, if it wasn't for those compliments I would be seriously pissed at you right now."

He cracked a smile at her words and started to open his mouth but she wasn't done.

"There aren't a lot of people I really care about in this world, probably even fewer actually care about me too… but Parrish is one of those people and this bastard tried to take him away from me in one of the sickest and cruelest ways imaginable. So don't worry about me, you keep the officer at the desk occupied and I'll get what we need from him."

Slowly Derek nodded his head as he leaned down, pressing a quick but hard kiss to her lips before he went into the building.

A few moments later Avery snuck in and quickly located the room Deputy Haigh was in, as she closed the door behind her and turned around he looked up from where he'd been staring down to the handcuffs binding him to the chair.

"What the hell is this?" He sighed in irritation as he saw the teenager.

"Well, that's honestly going to depend on you Haigh…" She admitted as she crossed the room and leaned over the table facing him, her eyes narrowed in hatred as she observed his already bruised face from where Parrish had went after him once he'd made it back to the station after being set on fire.

He looked at the door and shook his head when no one else came in, which clearly meant no one else knew she was in there with him.

"I don't have a lot of time so I'm going to cut right to the chase, it's going to be a lot easier and a hell of a lot less painful on you if you just tell me what I want to know." She threatened.

He laughed, a smirk on his face as he stared back at the teenager. He'd heard her making threats at the station before but he figured her bark had to be worse than her bite.

"You're not the only one at the station who figured out about the dead-pool are you?" She pushed.

"The what?" He asked confused.

Lowering her head and looking at him from under her perfectly manicured eyebrows she hissed, "The hit-list you idiot!"

"Oh." He said, cockily leaning back in the chair as he continued to smirk at her drawing out the simple word as long as possible, before he added in, "You mean that list that you and all of your friends are on?"

Her jaw tensed and he leaned forward some as he continued to taunt, "You know the five million for Parrish would have been nice, but I wish I'd went after a real payday… like you."

Biting down on the inside of her cheek she tried to keep her emotions in check and not let her anger get the best of her. She needed to keep a level head and approach the situation from a point of strategy and not emotion.

Continuing to taunt the teenager he added in, "You're right though… I'm not only one who figured things out. Wow, I guess that really sucks for everyone on your dead-pool, huh?"

Slamming her hands down on the table and causing him to jump she demanded to know, "I want names and I want to know their next moves… now!"

He laughed at her.

"You're handcuffed to a chair and no one knows I'm here with you… you really wanna try to play tough guy with me?" She asked in disbelief as she pulled her jacket off and laid it down on the table in front of her.

"What are you doing to do?" He asked with a laugh, as he watched her remove her thin jacket she'd been wearing underneath the leather one.

She let out a low laugh as she started to take her expensive rings off her fingers and put them in the small pocket of her dark denim skirt.

"What?" He continued to laugh, "You're going to hit me again like that day in the woods and break a nail? That didn't even leave a bruise." He lied.

"Oh god no, I'm not just going to walk up and punch you. You're right… I could break a nail." She countered as she flashed him a smile and reached into the pocket of her leather jacket on the table pulling out her car keys, "I'm a lady with class, quick and efficient … everything that I'm going to do to you is going to cause maximum pain in as little time as possible."

His smile fell as he saw the set of brass knuckles attached to her key-ring by a removable clip.

Seeing she had his attention she glanced at him from under her dark coated eyelashes as she asked in an innocent tone, "Like my keychain, Haigh?"

"You're crazy!" He accused, starting to shift around in his seat as she grabbed her thin jacket up off the table and balled it up in her left hand after sliding the brass knuckles onto the fingers of her right hand.

"Maybe." She laughed as she pushed the table out away from him and stood in front of him, as she leaned down and purred, "But at least I'm not going to need reconstructive plastic surgery…"

"What-" He started to ask, but didn't get the entire word out as she brought her arm back and punched him in the nose, causing the cartridge to crush and break under the impact of her blow.

Just as he started to scream in pain, she quickly covered his mouth with her balled up jacket, muffling his screams as she loudly said, "That's right, scream –cry, whatever… get it all out."

When he finally stopped screaming into the fabric she pulled it away from his face and bleeding nose as she said, "You've heard it only takes two pounds of pressure from a hit to drive your nose bone into your brain, right?"

His eyes widened in fear as he moved away from her; he had heard that before.

"I mean, I don't want to brag or anything… but I'm willing to bet that my punch packs more than two pounds of pressure." She smirked as she brought her fist back again but he fearfully called out, "Wait, wait, wait!"

"Yes?" She asked with raised eyebrows as she watched the blood from his noise continue to pour down his face.

He spilled a few names of his colleagues who were also in the know about the dead-pool and willing to kill for the money.

"Now we're getting somewhere." She cooed, then admitted, "The nose bone getting pushed into your brain is a total myth by the way… your nose is made of cartridge –still hurts like hell though, right?"

She demanded to know, "What's the next move… who's the next target?" A steely look present in her eyes as she spoke, mentally going to a place where she could hurt another human being without thought or remorse. A dark place inside of her that she tried to keep locked up, but today they were running out of time and all bets were off.

"I… I can't." He breathed, shaking his head back and forth.

"Tell me!" She yelled, but he wouldn't answer.

Her eyes drifted down to where he was gripping onto the armrests of the chair. Roughly pushing her jacket back against his face to muffle his screams, she punched the top of his hand which immediately started to swell as she heard the sickening snap of bones.

Tears burnt his eyes as he fought against the cuffs on his wrist and his legs flailed from both excruciating pain and not being able to breath from her jacket against his face.

When he stopped yelling she pulled her hand back and let him pull in several shallow breathes as he stared up at her with a look of hatred, but it didn't faze her, as she questioned, "Who's the next target? What's the damn plan?"

"I can't, you don't understand! I can't tell you, if I go to jail it's going to be in Beacon County and those guys who know… if I screw this up, they'll kill me." He reasoned.

"You think I care?" She growled, leaning her down her face in front of his as she hissed, "I don't have the heart or the time to care, and you're worried about your ass going to jail? You either start talking now or you won't leave this room alive!"

"I can't." He said, his tone pleaded for her to let up. But it was too late to back down now.

Dropping her jacket to the table she roughly grabbed a fist full of his hair and his head backwards exposing the front of his neck as she growled, "If you're not going to talk to me, I'm going to make it to where you can't talk at all."

"Please!" He shouted, trying to break free.

But rage seared her reason as she shouted back, "Please? Please! Is that what Parrish said to you before you lit him on fire?"

Her breathing was heavy as she stared at him, watching the blood and tears run off of his face as he fought for a gasping breath.

"Manners aren't going to get you anywhere, I care more about getting blood on my designer shoes than I value your life. You are a monster who tried to kill one of my friends… the nicest guy I have ever met and you zip tied him to the steering wheel of his car… doused in gasoline and you lit him on fire. So don't sit there and think you can throw some tears and manners my way and I'm going to break. It won't happen, the only thing that's going to break in this room is every single bone in your body if you don't tell me what the plan is." She said, her voice quiet, but steady and her tone was unnerving as she stood above him.

His eyes were wide as he stared back at her, his breathing even more labored than before.

"It only takes three to five pounds of pressure to crush someone's windpipe, and that isn't a myth!" She yelled over his sobs and his pleading for her to stop.

As she brought her arm back, ready to deliver a possibly fatal blow to his throat, he choked out, "Everyone!"

"What?" She asked as she let go of his hair.

More tears ran down his face as he hung his head and repeated, "Everyone… that's the plan, the guys are at the bonfire right now. They're going to disorient the werewolves and pull them into the school."

"And then what?" She gasped.

When he didn't talk she grabbed back onto his hair, making him face her as she yelled, "And then what?"

"Roast them alive." He admitted, through gritted teeth.

Letting go of him she took a stumbling step backwards as her mind started to race, everyone was going to be at that bonfire.

With her non-bloody hand she grabbed her coats and started to walk away before pausing and turning back around, as he raised his head to look at her she hit him again, causing the skin on his cheek to bust open as he let out a loud groan of pain and shouted, "I told you what you wanted to know!"

"Yeah, but that was for Parrish." She admitted with a venom laced voice, before she stumbled out of the room and quickly found the bathroom where she pulled the brass knuckles off her fist and dropped them into the sink with a clank.

Turning the hot water on she filled her palm with soap and got to work scrubbing the blood from her hands, just going through the motions without giving much thought to it. She couldn't stop and think for a moment because if she did that, she'd realize that her friends –including Teagan could already be dead. And that was a truth she couldn't handle.

After washing the blood from the brass knuckles and rewashing her hands she shut the water off and gabbed some paper towels out of the dispenser. Once her hands were dry enough, she tried Teagan's phone but she didn't get a response. Not bothering to try calling anyone else, she grabbed an empty trash bag from the wastebasket and put the thin jacket that had Haigh's blood on it inside.

Tying the bag, she dropped it to the floor and pulled on her leather jacket. Quickly she dried the brass knuckles and clipped them back on her key ring before sending a text to Derek, and sneaking out of the side door to the station.

But the time she walked around the building and to where her car was parked, Derek was waiting there for her.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

"The school, the next attack is right now at the bonfire… everyone is there, Teagan is there." She admitted, her voice oddly calm as she walked up to the trashcan and shoved the bagged up, blood stained jacket inside and turned to face him.

"Okay, I'll drive." He offered as he took her keys from her and looked down noticing some blood droplets spattered across her skirt. As he walked towards the car he noticed the brass knuckles on her key ring were slightly wet.

As he opened the driver's door to get inside of her car he looked over at her and back down to the keys as he realized the brass knuckles weren't just a decoration like he'd originally thought.

**~()~**

Teagan wasn't sure how long she had been knocked out, but when she heard someone calling out her name, she slowly opened her eyes then quickly shut them when a bright light hit them.

"Teagan... Teagan! You have to wake up!" She heard a young male voice yell out.

She opened her eyes again and saw Mason standing above her, using the flashlight on his phone to check on her. "Are you okay?" He asked, as he helped her sit up.

Teagan glanced around, as she breathed out Isaac's name, wondering where he was. She looked over at Mason, as she asked,"Where-Where's Isaac?"

"I don't know, he's not here. I think someone took him. Like they did Liam and Malia." Mason said.

"Wait, who took Liam and Malia?" Teagan asked, as she rubbed her head, trying to remember what happened last before she blacked out.

"These security guards. I think they got Scott too." Mason answered. "He said it's not the drinks doing this, it's the music. He left to get it turned off, but I haven't seen him since and the music is still playing."

"Assassins." Teagan mumbled to herself, realizing what was going on. She looked up at the freshman, as she said,"Mason, listen to me, this is important..." She held up her phone, as she said,"I need you to call Avery Dukate. She's listed on my phone. Tell her everything that is going on and tell her to get to the school as fast as she can."

"Where are you going?" Mason questioned, as he watched her stand up. When she stumbled, he quickly caught her, as he added,"You should probably rest."

"I'm okay." Teagan softly said, as she flashed him a small smile. "Just called Avery, okay?"

Mason nodded his head before asking,"Then what do you need me to do?"

"Then you need to get the hell out of here." Teagan answered, wanting him to get somewhere safe.

"Something bad is going to happen, isn't it?" Mason questioned.

"Something bad already has." Teagan said back, as she turned and began to walk away, wondering where the guards would have taken Isaac and her friends. She walked pass the school building, then paused when she saw one of the doors were open.

She patted her pockets, then silently cursed herself when she realized she left her daggers in the car. She didn't have time to run and get them, meaning she had to run into the school weapon-less, unless she could find something inside.

She ran down one of the hallways, then paused when she saw one of the classroom doors open. She raced inside, seeing a wooden pointer by the blackboard and grabbed it before running out of the room and making her way back down the hall way.

She turned a corner and skid to a stop when she saw one guard in front of Scott, holding up a lighter. Her mouth dropped open in surprise and her heart began to race when she realized he was planning to burn them all.

When she saw Isaac; who was laid out beside Scott, groan out in pain, that was all she needed to give her strength. She was not going to let them take him away from her or hurt her friends.

The other guards, sensing someone behind them, turned around to see her. One smirked at her, as he said,"What do you think you're going to do, little girl?"

"Come find out." Teagan stated, as she twirled the pointer in her hand before racing toward them.

She slapped one of the men across the face with the pointer, then turned to trip the other one up with it. When the first guy tried to reach out to grab the pointer from her, she tossed it in the air above her head, then punched him in the face before catching the pointer and hitting him in the stomach with it, causing him to double over in pain.

The man she had tripped up, climbed to his feet and raced toward Teagan, catching her off guard and knocking her to the floor. The two wrestled back and forth for the stick, until he got the upper hand and pushed it against her throat to choke her.

Remembering what Allison always taught her, to never give up, to find another way, Teagan wiggled around, trying to force him off of her with no luck. She tried to raise her hand, planning to scratch him, poke his eyes or something, but she was getting too weak to do anything. She could feel herself beginning to black out, when suddenly she felt his weight off of her and was able to breathe again.

She looked up, a smile on her face, when she saw Avery standing above her. The blonde had raced down the hall and kicked the guard off of her best friend before it was too late.

"Thank God, you're here." Teagan breathed out.

"You know I would never miss a good fight." Avery said, as she held out her hand to help Teagan up from the floor.

Teagan leaned against a bank of lockers, as she rubbed her hand against her throat. She glanced down the hall, seeing Derek fighting a couple of the guards, then turned to look at Avery. She opened her mouth to thank her best friend, until she saw one of the guards coming after her.

As her eyes widen, Avery glanced over her shoulder, seeing what her best friend saw, then turned back to look at Teagan. She nodded her head toward the wooden pointer, as she asked,"Do you mind?"

Teagan nodded her head, as Avery slipped a foot under it and kicked, causing the pointer to pop up. She easily caught it then spun around to face the guard and poked him in the stomach before stabbing him in the foot with it. She kept the pointer on top of his shoe and slide her hands down the wooden pointer as she bent down. She threw her leg up behind her and kicked him upside the head.

Seeing another guard heading for her out of the corner of her eye, she removed the pointer from the other man's shoe, then without turning around, twirled the stick as she moved it behind her back, hitting the other man in the face.

Still twirling it around, she brought it back in front of her, hitting the other guard and knocking him to the ground. She broke the pointer in half with her knee, then turned around to face the other man.

She pushed him backwards until his back slammed against the lockers and raised the wooden stick like it was a knife. She thought about stabbing it into his heart until Teagan yelled out her name, telling her to stop.

Avery gave out a bitter chuckle, as she told the man, "You just lucked out."

"I doubt you would have done anything." The man said, as he spit out a mouthful of blood from when she smacked him in the mouth with the stick earlier.

Avery leaned closer to him, looking him up and down, before she softly said,"Ask your buddy Haigh what I can do."

"Avery!" Derek called out, letting her know the fight was over and she could stop.

Avery looked away from the guard and down the hall toward Derek; who was standing with Scott. Thankfully Mason was able to stop the music, which helped all the werewolves and werecoyote to focus, and Scott was able to get the lighter away from the head guard before he could light any of them on fire.

"I told you, you wouldn't do anything." The man said with a chuckle, taunting her.

"First of all, you don't know me..." Avery began to say, as she grabbed his head and slammed it against the locker, knocking him out cold. She watched him fall to the floor, then added, "Secondly, you don't know me."

Avery took a step back from him and felt Derek walk up behind her. She turned her head to look at him, seeing the concern look on his face. He could only imagine what she did to Haigh earlier and now seeing how she was acting, he was worried about her.

He was worried about her having to tap into her powers recently to save Scott. He didn't want to see her slipping into the darkness again.

Seeing all the guards knocked out, Teagan raced over to the others, seeing that Malia and Liam were okay, then kneeled down in front of Isaac. She reached out to lightly touch his face and smiled when he leaned against her hand.

He opened his eyes to look at her, relieved to see that she was okay. After seeing her tossed aside by the guards he wasn't sure. He was to out of it to listen in for her heartbeat. He had to hope she was okay, cause if not, he would have begged the guards to take him out.

"Are you okay?" She softly asked him.

Isaac kissed the inside of her wrist, before pulling on her arm to bring her toward him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, as he whispered out,"We're both okay. We're going to be okay."

"It's you and me." Teagan whispered, as she rested her forehead against his, as she ran her fingers through his curls in the back.

"Always." He whispered back, as he laid a hand on the back of her head, cradling the back of her head.

The night could have been a lot worst, but they were able to successfully stop the latest assassins. Teagan wished that was enough to ease her mind, but the chill was still around her, making her realize their latest problems were not over. Time was still running out.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks so much for reading! We both really hope you liked the chapter. Don't forget to follow us on Tumblr, where we both post a lot of Blue Moon Series and other fanfiction content.**

**We'd like to especially thank xxxRena, Exuberance of Youth, DancingDorisDay and Iris RainbowWolf for reviewing chapter 37! ^_^**


	39. Find Something to Fight For

**Chapter Thirty Nine – Find Something to Fight For**

* * *

><p>"Who was that?" Derek asked as Avery got off of the phone and dropped it on the rustic coffee table in front of her.<p>

Crossing his loft he sat down beside her and watched as she picked her computer back up and continued her internet search.

"It was Scott, Kira managed to find Brett and his pack… they're alive." She offered with a small shrug.

"Okay, are we meeting them somewhere?" He questioned as he started to grab his leather jacket off the back of his couch, but stopped when Avery shrugged and asked, "Why? It's not like they're part of Scott's pack."

Sitting down on the table and facing her Derek asked, "Okay, so are we going to talk about what happened?"

"What are you talking about?" She questioned glancing at him from over the top of her computer screen for a moment before she looked back down.

"About whatever you did to get information out of Deputy Haigh?" He pushed with raised eyebrows.

When she didn't respond, he sighed and said, "Alright, then let's talk about how that orderly from Eichen tried to kill Stiles and Lydia… or Meredith faking her death, or I don't know… what happened at the school? Let's talk about any of it. Because I think you've barely said ten words to me since we left the school."

Rolling her eyes she looked back to her computer until he took from her and closed it, dropping it on the table next to where he was sitting.

She looked at him with a fiery gaze through narrowed eyes, but he stared unwaveringly back at her.

Closing her eyes and managing to contain her anger and the noise in her head she let out a slow breath until she looked at him and said, "I'm fine, Derek."

"You're not fine. You haven't been fine since the night at the hospital when you had to use that darkness again…" He blurted out.

His gaze fell to the floor as he saw the look that spread over her face.

"What do you want from me?" She finally asked, her voice quiet and dry as she spoke to him.

"I want you to fight." He said as he shook his head before his eyes locked with hers, "You want me to fight against whatever it is that Kate did to me… well I want you to fight against whatever is going on inside of you head right now. Because back there at the school, I watched you damn neared kill that guy… that's not okay, that isn't you Avery."

Standing up she walked over to the window and looked out into the heavy rain of the night as she said, "Yeah, well what if this is me, Derek?"

"It's not." He argued, but she barely gave him a chance to speak as she turned around and loudly said, "I'm sick of waiting around! I am sick and tired of Kate Argent being out there and not doing anything about it. All we're doing is waiting around for these assassins to kill everyone on the list and we're doing nothing about it."

"We're doing everything we can to protect everyone on that list!" He yelled back at her.

"Are we? Because that night when we tracked the mute assassin to the school –all you wanted to do was put him in jail." She reasoned shaking her head.

"So… what?" Derek questioned, "You think Peter's way of handling that situation was better, he killed him."

"You know what, I actually do… I'm glad Peter showed up and killed him and I don't understand why you can't wrap your head around that. I know you think you've learned a better way to handle things but maybe Peter's right." She sighed shaking her head, she hated fighting with him.

"Peter is never right." Derek argued back.

"He said I was the one who could find Kate, that with my training and everything I know that I could find her and I think he's right." She's explained, "We can't wait for her to come out of hiding –we need to drag her out of it."

"And do what exactly?" He questioned, not even yelling back at her anymore. But he was growing more and more concerned by the second, wondering what kind of thoughts were really going through her head.

"Take her somewhere and torture the shit out of her until she tells us how to fix you…" She yelled rolling her eyes as if the answer was completely logical and he should have came to that conclusion on his own, "Now I've been thinking and Kate's smart… she knows that werewolves could sniff her out, so if she's hiding in town she has to be somewhere with some smell that's going to mask her scent to everyone else, maybe we should be looking underground; like the sewers or something-" She tried to explain her theory, but Derek didn't listen as he cut her off.

"This isn't you talking… this is that darkness inside of you, this is what I'm talking about… you need to fight it." He tried to say, but she ran her fingers through her hair and yelled back, "Can you stop talking about the darkness like it's some separate being?"

His eyebrows lowered in confusion as he stared at her.

"It's a part of me, Derek. Don't you get it, the darkness isn't something separate, it's me! I am the darkness." Her words came out jumbled and she pulled in a deep breath as she closed her eyes before she got a handle on her emotions and opened her mouth to apologize for snapping at him. But then she saw the concerned look, it was the same type of look Scott and even Teagan would give her when she brought up doing something unthinkable.

"No… that's not true." He finally said as he cleared his throat and carefully took a step forward.

She knew the smart thing to do would just be to agree with him, try to get some sleep for the night and in the morning there wouldn't be so much noise and chaos in her head. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do the right thing.

Instead, her heart started to race and her mind was rushing through one irrational thought after another and when she opened her mouth she accused, "Or maybe it is true but you just don't want to admit because then…"

Her jaw tensed and she swallowed hard as she lowered her head, cutting her own sentence off just in time.

"Because then, what?" He pushed, taking a few more steps closer to her.

Stubbornly she crossed her arms over chest and shook her head, biting down on her tongue so hard it was starting to swell against her teeth.

"Avery, what were you going to say?" He asked louder, not letting up.

"Because then you'd have to realize that –that girl you talked down from the edge that night… the one huddled in a bloody mess on the bathroom floor ready to end it all wasn't the same girl you fell in love with." She accused, a lone tear rolled down her cheek but her voice stayed strong as she added, "Because then you'd realize that maybe I wasn't really worth saving after all."

Grabbing her jacket up off the couch she turned for the door but he quickly stopped her as he said, "I never said and I would never even think that-"

But she quickly pulled out of his grip and walked out of the door, sliding it shut with a loud thud behind her as she took the steps two by two running away as fast as she could so he couldn't catch up with her. She got in her car and sped off, without ever looking back behind her.

A part of her didn't want to see the pained look in his eyes she'd caused, but there was a bigger part of her that was terrified if she looked back she might see he hadn't come after her and that was a harder pill to swallow.

**~()~**

After surviving the assassin attack, Teagan and Isaac offered to give Liam a ride home. Scott offered to give Malia a ride, but she just wanted to be left alone. No one felt okay with letting her leave alone, but they also knew it wasn't a good idea to push her.

Once everyone left; Derek and Avery back to his loft, and Scott going home, Teagan and Isaac took Liam to her house first, figuring he needed to shower and change before walking in his house and trying to explain why he smelled like gasoline.

While Isaac took a shower, Teagan tried to find a change of clothes for Liam with no luck, then took a quick shower of her own. Once she was done, she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen. She grabbed a bottle of water for herself, Isaac and Liam, then walked over to the counter in the middle of the room.

She leaned against it and looked down at the bottle in her hand, her mind flashing back to earlier as she remembered the guard who slipped something in her drink to knock her out. If Mason had not woke her up and then got the music off, things could have went a lot differently. Her boyfriend and friends could have been burned alive. She would have to remember to thank Mason for his help the next time she saw him. She told him to leave, to get out of harms way, but instead he stuck around and helped.

As grateful as she was that everyone was okay, she still had Lorraine's warning in the back of her mind. She couldn't help but wonder why the others left her behind. If they were trying to kill people on the list and she was now on the list, why did they just knock her out and leave her? Did she somehow cheat death again?

Before she could think about things even further, Isaac walked into the room, his curly hair damp from his recent shower. He walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his chest, giving the top of her head a tender kiss.

"You smell good." Isaac mumbled, as he pressed his lips against the top of her head again, leaving it there to sniff her freshly washed hair.

"So do you." Teagan said back, as the scent of his body wash hit her nose. After being stuck in the car with him and Liam smelling like gasoline the fresh scent was a welcomed change.

"Really?" Isaac questioned, as he laid his hands on her hips to turn her around to face him. "I washed everything about twenty times and felt like I still smelled like gas."

Teagan stepped closer to him, burying her face in his shirt and took a deep breath, smelling nothing but him, the scent that always calmed her. She pulled back to look at him, a small smile on her face, as she said,"You smell great. Not a trace of gas." Her face fell a little, as she softly said,"Like nothing ever happened."

Isaac laid a hand on the side of her neck, lightly caressing her cheek, as he asked,"How's my girl doing?"

"Relieved her boy is okay, with a little confusion mixed in." Teagan answered. "And a whole lot of terrified."

With assassins running around, he knew that is what she was scared of, but didn't know what she could be confused about. Causing him to ask her about it.

"Those guards were going after people on list; you, Scott, Malia and Liam, but I'm on the list now too. But all they did was knock me out. Why was my life spared?" She questioned.

"Can't we just be relieved that they didn't grab you?" Isaac asked back. He knew the reason why, it was cause he begged them to, but he had no intentions of telling her cause in his opinion it didn't matter why. He promised to keep her safe and that is what he did.

"I am. I'm relieved that they didn't, I'm relieved that we all walked away okay, but if Lorraine is right about my time being up, then what was tonight? Another close call? Luck?" Teagan asked. She shook her head, as tears filled her eyes, and she added,"I don't know if I can live like this, Isaac. Scared that my next day is my last. That the next assassin that pops up is going to succeed. That I'm going to... die." As a few tears fell down her face, she laid her hands on his chest, looking up at him, as she whispered,"I don't want to leave you, Isaac."

"And you won't." He promised her. He laid his hands over hers, as he added,"I told you I would do anything to protect you and I meant that. I'm not losing you, Teagan."

Hearing his words, she tilted her head to the side, as a thought hit her. "You did something, didn't you? You said something to them?" She questioned.

Isaac blew out a breath, as he admitted,"I did what I said I would do. I protected you."

"And what about you, Isaac? Did you even fight as they dragged you away?" Teagan asked. She appreciated him saving her, she always did, but wished he would fight as hard for himself as he did for her.

"I always fight, Teagan. I never stop fighting." Isaac stated, as he placed his hands on the counter and leaned back.

"Yeah for me, but what about you?" She asked, as she stepped in front of him. When she realized he wasn't going to answer, she blew out a breath, as she laid her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her. "If something ever happens to me, Isaac, I need you to keep fighting for yourself. I need-"

"Don't." Isaac interrupted. He laid his hands on her lower back, as he shook his head, and said,"Don't say it, Teagan. Nothing is going to happen to you."

"But Lorraine said-"

"I don't care what she said!" Isaac snapped. "I told you, no one is going to make predictions about your life. Screw fate, screw banshee warnings... We'll change the outcome. We have beat the odds over and over again, look at all we have went up against and came out on the other side stronger, and we're going to keep doing that, Teagan, it's you and me always, remember?"

Teagan nodded her head at his words, as she wrapped her arms around his middle and buried her face in his shirt, filling more tears fall down her face. Isaac wrapped his arms around her, holding her close, as he kissed the top of her head, keeping his lips pressed against her as two kept their arms around each other.

The two were still holding each other, when Liam walked into the kitchen after his shower. He lowered his eyebrows as he asked out, "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is..." Teagan began to say, as she pulled out of Isaac's arms to turn around and face the younger boy. She couldn't stop a small chuckle from escaping as she saw what he was wearing; an oversized t-shirt and blue jeans that were too long for him.

"I gave him some clothes to wear." Isaac announced.

"Yeah, I can see that." Teagan said with another giggle, as she looked at her boyfriend.

"It was either that or a pair of your jeans and I'm not about to let him in your pants." Isaac joked.

She shook her head at his joke, then turned back to look at Liam, giving him a small smile, as she asked him how he was feeling.

"My head is still a little foggy and hurting, but I'm mostly okay." Liam answered.

"This might help." Teagan offered, as she held out a bottle of water.

"You might want to take some aspirins once you get home." Isaac added. "Even if it wasn't the drinks, it's still giving a hangover feeling. The aspirins will help with the headache."

When Liam nodded his head and looked down at the bottle of water, not saying anything, Teagan took a step toward him, as she softly said his name. After he looked up at her, she said,"Are you sure you're okay? If you need to talk, we're here for you."

Liam nodded his head again to thank her, there was a lot he wanted to say. There were so many thoughts circling around in his head, he didn't know where to even start.

Before anyone could say anything else, Teagan heard her cell phone begin to ring from in the living room; where she left it before taking a shower. Isaac gave her a nod, telling to go get it and he'll stay with Liam.

She gave him a smile to thank him, then walked past Liam, giving his shoulder a friendly squeeze, before walking out of the room and jogging over to her phone. The call was from Scott, telling her that Kira found Brett and they were all meeting at the animal clinic. She told him they would be there soon, then made her way back toward the kitchen.

She paused for a moment, hearing Isaac and Liam talking. She peeked into the room, seeing both boys sitting beside each other on stools at the end of the counter. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she saw Liam smiling over at Isaac before both boys began to laugh about something. She couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of her. She knew one of Isaac's biggest fears was turning into his father, but she knew it wasn't possible and moments like this confirmed that for her. There was too much goodness in him, there was too much happiness in his smile and kindness in his eyes for him to turn into a mean-spirited person like his father.

Sensing her in the doorway, Isaac turned his head to look at her, his face lighting up like it always did when he saw her. It was one of his many smiles that she loved so much.

"Hey, who was that?" Isaac questioned.

"It was Scott." Teagan answered. "Kira found Brett."

"Is he okay?" Liam asked. The two weren't close at all, but they were teammates at one time and he wouldn't wish death on him.

"He's fine." Teagan said to the younger boy. She turned her attention to both of them, as she added,"They are at the clinic. Scott asked if we could swing by."

"Was it assassins?" Liam asked, his eyes slightly wide. The joking mood between him and Isaac was now gone as he remembered the attack on them earlier again.

As Teagan nodded her head, he added,"Different than the ones who just tried to set us on fire?"

"Probably so. We have no clue how many people out there have the list. It could literally be hundreds." Isaac stated, his words making Liam feel worst. He glanced over at his girlfriend, seeing her shake her head at him, telling him to stop talking. He looked over at Liam, seeing how upset he looked and understood what she meant. He stuttered a few times, before saying,"And by hundreds, I mean, just a few. Not uh, not that many, you know?"

Teagan softly smiled at him for trying to backtrack, then looked over at Liam as she suggested,"How about we take you home now?"

"I'm not like you guys." Liam pointed out, as he stood up from his seat. "Something happens and you all jump in without a second thought. You and your friends try to protect everyone. I don't see how you do it." He turned his attention to Teagan, as he added,"Especially you. You're not like us, you don't have super strength or can heal like us."

"No, but she is a badass." Isaac stated with a proud smile, as he stood up to stand behind her.

"I was trained by the best." Teagan pointed out with a sad smile, as Allison crossed her mind.

"Have all of you been doing this the whole time?" Liam questioned. As the couple nodded their heads, he added,"How are you all still alive?"

"Not all of us are." Teagan softly said, thinking of Allison again, as well all the others they have lost.

"But we never forget who we are doing this for." Isaac added, as he wrapped an arm around Teagan's waist. "You have to figure out who you are fighting for and never stop fighting."

As Liam nodded his head, the couple realized he wasn't ready, not yet. He had too much on his mind to help them that night. He needed time to get over the close calls and get his head right, and that was okay. Their life was not an easy life, but it was a rewarding life that none of them would trade.

Teagan flashed the younger boy a smile, as she said,"Let's get you home, Liam."

**~()~**

Several minutes after rushing out of Derek's loft Avery was driving down the road in an emptier side of town still wiping the rain and tears off of her face as she ignored the sound of her phone ringing from her pocket.

When she pulled to a stop at a stoplight; she took her phone from her pocket and removed the tracking app he'd put on her phone before she shut it off and dropped into the passenger seat beside her.

When the light turned to green she looked down, switching her defroster on to try and make it easier to see out of the window before she drove off, but she'd barely it a little ways down the road when her car inexplicably died on her.

"What the hell?" She muttered as she guided it to the edge of the road, and slammed her hands against the steering wheel letting out a frustrated scream as she hung her head and fought the urge to start crying from the stress of everything.

Finally she flung her door open, glad the rain had slowed down at least. As she raised the hood of her car and looked at everything her eyes stopped on an unfamiliar small black box with a red bubble of light on it. With a confused look her eyes scanned over to where there were two chords leading out from the box.

She didn't know a lot about cars, but she'd looked under the hood of her car enough to know that wasn't supposed to be there. Which only meant one thing; someone else had put it there and she had a suspicion that the device was also want stopped her car.

Closing her eyes for a moment she pulled in a deep breath for a moment before her eyes snapped back open when she heard the noise of an approaching car and the sound of tires rolling over the rain slicked pavement.

Standing up all the way, she watched as the car pulled to a stop right in front of hers, crossing her arms over her chest she turned and watched as the door opened and a man stepped out into the light coating of rain still falling from the sky.

"Car trouble?" He asked, with a smile.

"Mhmm…" Avery hummed, her gaze locked on him as she dropped her arms to the sides, her hands opening and closing into fists repeatedly with a nervous energy at her sides with an anticipation that the guy who was standing beside her looking under the hood of her car was there with the intention of killing her.

"Let me guess…" She quietly said with raised eyebrows, "That's some sort of kill switch, right?"

"You can pick these things up for less than twenty bucks." He nodded as he turned to face her quickly pulling a gun from his pocket and pointing it at the teenager who didn't even flinch.

She wasn't sure why she wasn't more afraid of what was happening, she considered that maybe it was because a small part of her didn't really care if he did kill her or maybe she was so confident in her training and abilities that she could already see several flaws he'd made in his plan to kill her.

"Clever…" She nodded, "Killing my car out here where no one else is around, you've obviously been following me."

"I was going to take out your boyfriend too… but seeing as how he's no longer on the list, what's the point?" He reasoned, causing her jaw to tense as she stared at him.

"It's nothing personal… but you're worth a lot of money, Avery." He said keeping the gun pointed on her, but she could see his finger trembling slightly over the trigger; a sign that he was nervous and trying to psych himself up for the task at hand.

"Look… I'm sure you figure it's going to be easy taking out a seventeen year old girl…" She said, as she turned took a step forward, careful not to set him off as she continued, "And I'm guessing this is the part where I'm supposed to beg you not to kill me, right? In fact, judging by the way you're hesitating and your hand is shaking… I'm pretty positive I could prey on your humanity and you'd not have the balls to pull that trigger."

"But…I don't beg." She hissed, carefully taking in her surroundings as she spoke, "So instead I'm going to give you a warning… you picked the wrong person off of that list to try and take out on the wrong night. Drop the gun and walk away, I won't tell you twice."

With a cocky grin the guy said, "Actually… my hand is shaking cause it's pretty cold out here. And I could have easily gunned you down –execution style when I got out of my car, but I didn't. Not because I'm nervous… I'm just curious what you are. You're on a list full of werewolves… rumor has it there's even a few banshees on there. But you… what are you? I mean, that is the twenty one million dollar question, isn't it?"

"I'm Avery Dukate." She said with a smile as she took another step closer, knowing she was close enough to knock the gun out of his hand. In one quick movement she did just that, and the gun landed to the ground with a thud on the wet pavement.

He rushed towards her but she expertly blocked every hit and knocked him off of his feet as they both tumbled to the ground together, with the way he also blocked most of her attacks she figured he must have been trained as a hunter too.

Physically, he was larger and stronger than she was; but she was small and faster, making it easy enough to slide out of his grip and even wriggle away when he'd gotten her pinned during the fight.

During the scuffle she was vaguely away of a car that passed them, but didn't stop to offer any assistance.

Avery pulled herself to her feet; the coppery taste of blood filling her mouth from her busted lip and slightly dizzy and disoriented from the fight and the few hits she'd taken to the head.

Groaning in pain she saw the man was on his feet now to next to her car, ignoring the headache pulsing behind her eyes, she made her way over to him where she intended on hitting his head against her car to knock him unconscious but he jumped up quicker than she expected and as he spun around her eyes barely caught the glimpse of something metallic in the streetlight before there was a sharp pain across her side and she could feel blood saturating her shirt as she fell to the ground with a cry of pain.

As he walked up where she was laying, she kicked against the pavement trying to put distance between herself the assassin, as he walked up to her. There was a threatening essence around him, the way he closed in on wounded prey reminded her of the slow, creepy walk that killers always chased their victims with in movies.

But the blood dripping through her fingers as she held on her injured side and the pounding headache that felt like it was trying to crush her brain her against her skull was proof that this wasn't a movie; this was real life –and it was her life that was on the line.

Minutes ago she wasn't sure if she even wanted to fight to live; but as she thought about all of her friends and Derek, she remembered the way she'd left things when she stormed out on him and she didn't want that being the last time she ever saw him.

Even though she was exhausted and in pain, bleeding and sore she knew she had to keep fighting. It would all be over if she could just manage to move just a few feet away and grab the gun that she'd knocked out of his hands.

But as she turned over in an attempt to crawl away, he reached down grabbing onto her ankle and pulled her away from the gun as her fingers clawed at the road she frantically tried to pull out of his grip with her other leg flailing widely hoping to kick him.

As he flipped the teenager over and knelt down above her she knocked the dagger out of his hand before he could put it her neck like he was trying to do, but she didn't have time to do much else as his hands wrapped around her throat.

Off in the distance she could hear sirens approaching and she hoped that they were headed her way, that even though the car that had passed earlier didn't stop –maybe the driver had at least called for help.

Gasping for air she tried to break free but she couldn't, even keeping her eyes open was a struggle but she wasn't ready to give up. From the corner of her eye she could see the crimson stained blade on the black pavement and she flung her arm out to the side, her rushed fingers clumsily fumbled over the blade, even cutting herself on the razor sharp edge. But then she got it turned at the angle she needed it and her hand wrapped around the handle, without a second thought she plunged the knife into the side of her attackers neck getting him right in the carotid artery.

Sliding away from him she raised her leg and kicked him in the chest as he fell back on the pavement, making gurgling noises as he quickly bled out.

Leaning to the side she coughed and fought for a breath as she held onto her bruised neck, trying to take in a breath as she heard a car screeching to a stop. And with the sirens still sounded to be a few streets over she could only hope the whoever had pulled up wasn't another assassin.

Hearing hurried steps on the pavement she raised her head and saw Derek as he rushed between the cars a look of terror on his face until his eyes stopped on her, yelling out her name he rushed to her side and dropped to pavement beside her. His eyes wide as he saw the blood on her hands and smeared on her clothes.

Staring up at him she opened her mouth, needing to tell him that she was so sorry for everything that she'd said earlier and that she didn't mean any of it. As her eyes drifted over to the lifeless body of her attacker, she knew she needed to also tell Derek that he'd only killed the guy because she had no other choice. She needed to tell him so many things all at once but only dry, painful coughs and gasps for air came out.

"Shh, it's okay." Derek said, knowing she need to calm down to be able to get a breath. Pulling her trembling body against him, he held her tightly also no longer caring about the fight they'd had at all.

Now sitting on the ground with her in his lap, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and kept her wrapped in his protective arms as he quietly said, "I'm right here, you're okay."

Nodding she gripped onto his shirt and buried her face against him as the scene was now illuminated from headlights and flashing police lights, the sounds of the still blaring sirens filled her ears and made her head continue to throb in pain

**~()~**

Once Liam was home and safe, Isaac pulled back out on to the road, as he drove himself and Teagan to the animal clinic to meet up with Scott. Teagan leaned back against her seat to watch him. A smile appeared on her face, as she remembered before when he was talking to Liam and the two were laughing.

"What?" Isaac asked, feeling her watching him. He turned for a moment to look at her, a smile on his face, as he added,"What has my girl so happy?"

"You." Teagan answered. She reached out to grab one of his hands, bringing it to her lap as she held on to him. "Only you."

Isaac gave her a wink and a grin, before turning back to look at the road. The two were quiet for a moment, until he spoke up and said,"I'm sorry, by the way."

"For what?" Teagan asked confused.

"For snapping a little earlier." Isaac said. "I know you're worried about what Lorraine said, you're worried about the dead-pool, but when I heard you talking about dying and maybe it's your fate, I can't accept that, Teagan. I don't care if some old banshee is predicting some impending danger coming, I'm not going to let it happen."

"But that's just it, Isaac. Banshees don't predict danger. They predict death." Teagan pointed out. "Derek was right." She softly added, as she remembered him saying the exact same thing recently.

As Isaac looked over at her with a shocked look, she let out a small chuckled, as she asked,"What?"

"Did you really just say the words 'Derek was right'?" He questioned.

Teagan laughed again, as she threw her head back with a groan and said,"Ugh, I know. If I am agreeing with the grumpy wolf, you know the world is ending."

"Yeah, I am honestly a little scared right now." Isaac joked, as he pulled the car into the clinic parking lot.

He turned off the car, then turned to look at her with a serious look on his face. He reached up to lightly caress her face, before saying,"Look, whatever happens, I'm never going to stop fighting for you."

"Figure out who you are fighting for and never stop." She softly said, repeating his words to Liam earlier.

Isaac nodded his head, as he added,"Everything I do is for you, Teagan, and I'm not ever giving up." He lightly ran his finger tips over her bottom lip, as he whispered out,"You always say I changed your life with one kiss, well you changed mine too. You saved me, Teagan."

Teagan smiled at his words as she leaned over the console to softly kiss his lips. "I love you." She whispered against his lips.

"I love you too." He whispered back, before kissing her again.

The two pulled back to look at each other, matching smiles on both of the faces, before they opened the car doors and stepped out into the rainy night. Isaac raised his jacket, trying to place it over her head to keep the rain from falling on her, as the two huddled together to run across the parking lot. Isaac pulled the door open and ushered her inside before running in behind her.

Teagan brushed her wet hair out of her face, as Scott walked into the front room to meet them. When she saw Kira, she walked over to her friend, giving her a hug as she asked her how her mother was doing and learned her mother was doing better, she was healing.

Kira and Scott explained more about what was going on as they all walked down the hallway and into one of the back rooms where Satomi and her pack were resting and healing.

"Satomi..." Scott began to say, as he walked into the room, getting the older woman's attention. "These are two of my friends, they're going to help."

After Scott introduced them to the group, the older woman set her gaze on the couple. She nodded at Isaac, as she said,"You're a wolf too..." She turned her eyes to Teagan, as she added,"But you're not."

Teagan nodded her head, letting her know she was right, she wasn't a werewolf, she was human. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Brett spoke up from across the room,"Then why do you care?"

"Find something to fight for and keep fighting." Teagan said, as she glanced over at Isaac, smiling at him as she repeated his words.

"Let me guess, you read some werewolf romance book and think it would be fun to date one." Brett said, as to her. He scoffed, as he added,"Let me save you the trouble. This life, it's not easy or fun."

Teagan turned to face Brett, laying her hands on the table between them, as she said,"Lisa, Aleine, Lorraine, Allison, Aiden..."

"Who is that?" Brett asked with an annoyed look on his face, as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Just a list of people we've all lost." Teagan answered. "I have more names for you. Have you heard of the kanima, darach or alpha pack?" When he shook his head, she added,"Well I have. The kanima was my ex boyfriend; who we saved and is now living in London. The alpha pack is exactly what it sounds like; a pack of alphas who came to town and tried to destroy us, but we're still standing. The darach was my childhood best friend's mother. We thought she died years ago, but we were wrong. She killed a lot of people and took Scott's mother, Stiles' dad and my dad. She planned to kill them to make herself powerful enough to kill the leader of the alpha pack." She paused for a moment to glance over at Scott, before looking back at Brett and saying,"We had to sacrifice ourselves to find our parents in time, which caused a door in our minds to open. Mine actually stayed open longer and my mother was able to haunt me and at times possess me. She wanted me to kill my friends and the love of my life, but I fought her every day and trust me, it was never easy or fun."

She leaned over the table, as she tearfully added,"Something else that wasn't easy or fun... was burying one of my best friends."

"Hey, come here." Isaac softly said, as he land a hand on her back, knowing she was getting upset. When she turned to look at him, he pulled her toward him, shooting Brett a look over her head.

Isaac held her close to him, as he looked over at Scott and nodded his head toward the open doorway, letting him know he was going to get her out of there. Scott nodded his head in understanding, then followed along after the couple as they made their way outside; leaving Kira inside to watch over the other pack.

"I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to unload on him like that." Teagan said, as she blew out a breath. She leaned back against her car, running a hand through her hair, as she added,"But after the night we had-"

"It's okay." Isaac interrupted his girlfriend, as he laid a hand on her shoulder, giving it a rub to help calm her down.

Scott nodded his head in agreement, as he added,"We all had a stressful night. It's understandable."

"So what's the plan?" Isaac asked, as he looked over at the alpha.

"I figured we would stay here tonight and in the morning try to move them somewhere else that is safer." Scott suggested.

"And it was hunters after them?" Teagan asked.

Scott nodded his head, as he reached behind to pull an arrow out of his back pocket and handed it over to her. She and Isaac both looked at it closely, but neither one recognized it.

"It looks like a bird, but I don't know what it means." Teagan admitted. She looked up at Scott, as she added,"Maybe Avery knows who it belongs to. Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah, I told her what was going on. She hasn't seen the arrow yet though." Scott said.

"I guess we can all meet up tomorrow." Isaac suggested, as he pulled Teagan toward him, he could feel how exhausted she was.

"Okay." Scott said to the couple. He watched Isaac open the passenger side door for Teagan, but before she could sit down, he called out her name.

When she turned to look at him, Scott added,"Bring weapons. I hope this can all end peacefully, but these things never do and we can't afford to lose anyone else."

"We won't." Isaac stated, as he caught his girlfriend's eyes for a moment, before looking over at Scott. "We're gonna stop the list and we're going to stop the benefactor."

"Find something to fight for and keep fighting." Teagan repeated from earlier, as she glanced at Isaac, seeing him nod back at her. They didn't know what was coming tomorrow, but they all did know they would go down fighting together.

**~()~**

"Hey." Avery said with a grateful smile as Derek walked back into the ER room they had her in at the hospital.

"How's your side?" He asked with a worried expression as he walked up to where she was sitting on the side of the bed.

"Sore." She admitted, placing a hand over it as she continued, "But it didn't take as many stitches as they thought."

Derek nodded, trailing a hand down the side of her face before he cupped her cheek in his hand and said, "I'm just glad you're okay."

"I think the guy who tried to kill me was a hunter." She explained, but before she could say much else.

Derek said, "I just got done talking to the sheriff, he said he's going to take care of everything… it's a clear cut case of self-defense, but when they were collecting evidence from the scene he managed to get the gun and he got one of the bullets out before they logged it into evidence."

Her forehead lined with confusion and she started to ask why until he pulled the bullet from his pocket and handed it to her as he continued, "He gave this to me… on the off chance that we knew what it meant."

Looking down to the bullet in her hand she saw a symbol in the metal.

"It looks like a bird to me." Derek admitted with a small shrug.

"I've never seen this before, but yeah… it means the guy was definitely a hunter." She sighed rubbing her face with her hands after giving him the bullet back.

They stopped their conversation as a friendly nurse came into the room with a clipboard of papers that Avery needed to sign before she could leave, then after giving her a prescription for pain medicine the nurse left the couple alone.

"Let's get you out of here." Derek said, his eyes falling back to her bloody and shredded shirt then to her ruined jacket laying behind her on the bed. Pulling his leather jacket off he helped her slide it on as she nodded in thanks and hugged the fabric to herself.

"Avery?" He asked when she made no attempt to stand up.

"I didn't mean it…" She whispered, closing her eyes to get in control of her emotions before she explained in a more confident tone, "I'm so sorry, Derek. You're right… all of that stuff I said, the way I was acting –that wasn't me.'

"I know, it's okay." He tried to assure her as he helped her down off of the foot of the bed.

"It's not really." She argued crossing her arms over her chest and shaking her head, "You've been so great since we got back together and I'm trying… I'm really trying to not be such a mess all of the time. But sometimes… I barely have the energy to get through the day and the smallest little thing sets me off and you don't deserve that."

"Hey…" He breathed as he faced her, leaning down he captured her lips in a kiss that immediately calmed some of her nerves before he pulled back but kept her face in his hands as their eyes locked he said, "Everyone has days like that, you're not a mess. And even though you're hard to handle sometimes… I love you just the way you are, and I'd never want you to change." He tried to lean in to kiss him again but she turned her head slightly, blocking the kiss.

With an apologetic tone she said, "But that's just it… I have changed, I'm not the same person you fell in love with…" Her voice cracked and the corners of her mouth angled down in a deep frown.

He watched her in silence for a few moments before he admitted, "You're right, you have changed."

She nodded as her face twisted with pain, this was what she'd been most afraid of was that he'd realize how different she was from when they'd met and he wouldn't feel the same about her.

Her chin quivered and she winced from the pain of her split lip as she tried to turn away from him but he reached out grabbing onto her hand as he stopped her, "But that's okay, because after everything you've been through… there's no way that wouldn't change someone. I'm not the same person I was back then either… we've both changed but Avery, I've seen you overcome every obstacle and I watch you fight to stay strong every single day and I am so proud of you."

A few tears rolled down her cheek as she stared at him with an unsure expression, with a slight look of fear in her eyes.

"But you don't need to worry because I love you so much for all of that." He quietly said, causing more tears to fall from her eyes at his tone of the voice. The same tone he'd always used even when they were alone, like what he was saying was for her ears only. This was the Derek she'd tried to tell Teagan about but her best friend never got to see him act this way.

"You do?" She asked, in a hoarse voice as she looked up at him with her tired eyes.

Smiling he stepped closer nodded as he leaned down, resting his forehead against hers as he softly said, "Avery, you… you are everything to me."

She smiled back, savoring every second that their mouths were joined as he leaned in farther and claimed her lips; she didn't care that kissing him was painful on her sore lip. She just needed those moments with him, to know that when she'd fought that hunter with everything in her to stay alive; she'd fought for a reason.

Pulling back from the kiss she leaned in wrapping her arms around his midsection as he folded her into a loving embrace, thankful that she was okay and that they at least had another day together.

Needing to get the last thing that was bothering her off of her mind she clutched onto him as she said, "You need to know that I only killed that guy because I had too."

"I know." He quickly answered his arms tightening around her as he said, "I never thought differently… but you were right about one thing at the loft. These assassins, aren't going to stop and we can't worry about just trying to save the people on the list. We need to eliminate the threat… it's our lives or theirs." He said, his voice had a growl to it as he thought of how painfully he'd have killed the guy who tried to kill Avery earlier that night.

Finally pulling back from the embrace he wrapped an arm around her as he led her out of the hospital.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN – Thanks for reading and an extra special thank you to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, xxxRena, Exuberance of Youth, and Maze for being completely awesome and reviewing the last chapter. ^_^ **


	40. Preparing For War

**Chapter Forty – Preparing For War**

* * *

><p>"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" Avery questioned, with a small sigh as she looked over to Derek as he pulled his car to a stop at the building everyone was supposed to meet at.<p>

"Maybe because less than ten hours ago you were sitting in the emergency room after being stabbed."

With a small laugh she clarified, "I got cut… not really stabbed."

"Bad enough that your clothes were soaked in blood and you had to get stiches." He argued.

"I'm fine, Derek. I've been through a lot worse and I already told Scott we'd be here. We can't exactly turn around and leave now, plus you're the one who thought we should have gone and helped Satomi's pack last night." She pointed out.

His eyes fell to her busted and still slightly swollen lip and then down to her bruised neck, "Yeah, well that was before someone tried to kill you. Now all I want is for you to be safe." He explained as he reached out, gently holding onto he side of her face as he moved his thumb over her skin near her wounded lip, "That's what I need, is for you to be okay and we have no idea what we're walking into."

Before she could say anything he added, "And you're the one who said you didn't want to help Brett or anyone in his pack last night."

"I said a lot of things I didn't mean last night. But I have to help them… from what Scott told me… they have the strength of a large pack –they've got claws and fangs but they're not fighters. They're not…" Her voice trailed off and she started to open her door to get out of the car but he stopped her.

"They're not what, Avery?"

Sighing she turned to face him as she shrugged, "They're not killers."

"Neither are you." He quickly said, his eyes bore into hers as he spoke.

"I just killed someone last night." She argued, with raised eyebrows.

"Because you had to-" He started to say but she didn't let him speak.

"It's okay, Derek. I know what I did was because I had to… it was me or him and even if it took me a long time to figure it out; I have a lot to keep living for." Leaning over the console of the car she pressed a kiss to his lips before she pulled back and said, "I'm not going to have a breakdown over this, I did what I had to and I can compartmentalize my emotions. But a lot of people can't."

"What are you saying?" Derek questioned, his eyes searching her face as he spoke.

"What I'm saying is that… it sucks, but I'm someone who can handle this. If I have to kill someone to keep my friends safe then I can do that… but not everyone can. So that's why I need to be here today, because we have no idea what we're walking into and this pack of wolves aren't killers." She explained, her voice was calm and he could see was in a much better place mentally and emotionally than she'd been the night before.

Nodding, but still clearly not happy about her wanting to put herself right back into danger after nearly losing her, he pulled her face to his for another kiss before they got out of the car and he grabbed their bag of guns from the back.

As the couple walked inside they hadn't made it very far before Kira jumped out with her katana in hand, as they both looked at her she breathed a sigh of relief and slid it back into it's protective case as she explained, "Thank god it's just you guys. We're taking turns doing rounds of the building…" Her voice trailed off as she looked at Avery.

"Oh my god… what happened you look horrible!" The kitsune blurted out, causing Avery to shoot her a look.

"Not that you actually ever look bad, I just meant-" She quickly tried back track and cover her words up.

"It's fine." Avery sighed as Derek explained, "She got attacked."

"Assassins?" Kira questioned, her eyes wide with fear.

"One of them… one very determined assassin." Avery said, before she waved her hand dismissing the conversation and asked, "Where is everyone else?"

"I'll show you." Kira said, but didn't budge as she noticed the bruising the on Avery's neck.

"I'm fine, Kira." She repeated nodding for her to lead the way, they didn't know how much time they had before someone might made a move against them.

She nodded but frowned as started to turn around.

Derek looked over at Avery as the blonde hung her head and rubbed her tired eyes.

He gave a look, silently asking if she was sure she wanted to be there.

She nodded and smiled as he reached down and grabbed onto her hand and they followed behind Kira through all of the loose hanging sheets of plastic.

"Derek and Avery are here… they brought more guns." Kira announced as she entered the large office room where they Satomi's pack was sitting.

Avery's eyes widened as she looked around seeing the walls lined with them, Scott had told her Satomi had a large pack but she'd never imagined it was this big, shaking her head she realized that they probably made up damn neared all of the dead-pool.

"Hey A!" Teagan called out, not looking over her shoulder as she walked beside Isaac who was carrying a case of bottled water and she grabbed bottles out to distribute them to the pack. Isaac barely glanced over as he balanced the heavy case of water in one arm and threw his other up to wave at the pair.

Derek dropped the bag of weapons to the floor and Scott looked over his eyes widened as he saw Avery and he said, "Oh my god, are you okay?"

Teagan spun around to see what was happening, her jaw dropping as she saw her friends face.

"God…" Avery breathed, before attempting to joke, "Do I really look that bad?"

"A… w-what happened?" Teagan called running to her best friend, as Kira took her spot next to Isaac and continued to help pass out water.

Appreciating the warm, comforting hug from her best friend, Avery smiled as she stepped back and said, "I'm okay T. It's not as bad as it looks."

"What happened?" The brunette asked louder as she stared at her with a worried expression, her eyes moving from her friend's swollen lip to her bruised neck.

"An assassin." She finally admitted, wishing she hadn't when she saw her friend' chin start to tremble some.

"I'm okay, really. I would have called you last night but after I got home from the hospital and showered, I just went to bed." She quickly added in, knowing the next question her friend would ask would be why didn't call her.

Teagan stepped in and hugged her even tighter again, before she asked, "Wait… hospital?"

"Yeah." Derek announced as he stood up from where he'd been knelt down looking through the bag, as he continued, "Seeing as how she got stabbed last night, I tried to get her to sit this one out but-"

Avery shot him a look as she said, "Thanks for having my back here, Derek."

Holding his hands up in surrender, he shook his head like he hadn't meant to say that but he was really hoping that maybe Teagan would convince Avery to just go home and rest.

"You what!" Teagan gasped, her eyes wide.

"I was not stabbed." Avery clarified before shooting Derek a look and adding in, "Thank you very much."

"I just had to get some stitches… but I'm fine-" Avery stated to try and assure her but Teagan shook her head as she argued, "You shouldn't be here, A."

"I am not leaving." Avery sighed; before she rubbed her forehead and added in, "And I'll be damned if the first time you both get along and agree on something is going to be trying to tell me what to do." She finished, motioning between her best friend and her boyfriend.

"Shut up!" Brett hissed as he stood up from where he had been sitting.

"What did you just say to me?" Avery snapped, rolling her neck with attitude as she looked over at him, but ignored her as he said, "Shh! I hear something."

Avery opened her mouth to argue with him but Isaac sat the case of water down on the floor and rushed to Teagan's side as he whispered, "Someone's here…"

Brett left the room and Scott and Kira started after him but, Avery grabbed onto them and said, "What? Kid wants to be a hero… let's just let him go."

"Yeah, let's let him go." Isaac agreed as he wrapped an arm around Teagan and remembered the upsetting things that Brett had said to her the night before. She glanced over at her boyfriend with a small sigh.

"Guys… come on." Scott said as he turned and left the room, with his friends slowly following behind him.

Scott followed the sound of Brett's growling until he found him in a face-off with Chris Argent.

"Wait! Brett wait, this is his place… it's his." Scot yelled.

Once the beta understood what he was being told, his fangs retracted and he took a few steps back. In response Chris Argent breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his gun, as he looked at Scott and said, "Scott, if you're bringing guests… you could have called."

"We didn't have anywhere else to take them." He apologized.

Teagan looked over her shoulder to see some of the pack had followed them to see what was going on.

"I know this man. He may not remember but we've met before." Satomi said as she stepped in front of her pack and approached the hunter.

"You can trust him." Teagan softly said as she and Avery both smiled at him.

"I trust him." Scott agreed nodding.

"How do we know he's not like the others?" The female alpha questioned, her expression was flooded with concern.

"What others?" Chris asked turning to face her.

Stepping up to the small group, Kira explained, "Last night, there was a whole team after them." Handing home one of the arrows from the night before Kira said, "They used crossbows."

Catching a glimpse of symbol etched on the arrowhead Avery said, "Wait… can I see that?"

Chris handed it to her and she looked at it for a moment before nudging Derek and handing it to him.

"What's wrong?" Isaac asked seeing the matching concerned expressions on their faces.

"It's the same symbol." Avery breathed as she shook her head.

Reaching over Teagan pulled the arrow from Derek's hand without a second thought as she questioned, "As what?"

"The guy who attacked me last night…" Avery explained as Derek pulled the bullet out of his pocket, intending to hand it over to Chris but Teagan jerked it out of his hand as she compared the symbols and Isaac said, "It's the same."

"They're hunters aren't they?" Scott reasoned, as Teagan handed both items over to the older hunter.

Chris looked at Avery's bruised face and neck and then back down to bullet and arrow as he said, "Not if they're killing for profit, they're not hunters anymore."

"Can they find us?" Brett questioned.

"They might already know you're here… but they may be waiting for dark." Chris nodded as his eyes drifted past the teenager to several more members of the pack.

With a defeated expression Kira breathed, "So we're not safe here?"

"We're not safe anywhere. We've been trying to get out for days but we just keep finding someone new trying to kill us." Satomi said.

"They guy from last night had been following for a while… he'd been waiting for the right opportunity to take out both Derek and I at once… but he's not on the list anymore so I guess this guy decided it was the right time to get a payday from killing me." Avery nodded as she pulled in a deep breath and said, "She's right, I don't think we're safe anywhere."

Derek reached over sliding an arm around Avery's waist, holding her up against his side as he remembered how bad she'd looked when he found her the night before.

"If they are coming… then they're coming for you too Scott, you're still number one on the dead-pool." Chris explained as he stepped closer to the alpha.

Nodding Isaac said, "Yeah, and Avery's here too… meaning we've got the top two on the list here in this building. The only thing that could paint an even bigger target on this building right now would be if Lydia were here too."

Teagan shot him an unamused look as she said, "Lydia can get the answers out of Meredith, she just needs more time. But while she's doing that we need to keep everyone safe. I brought several weapons and Avery's got a bag of guns back in the office room. We can do this."

Looking over at the brunette teenager, Chris Argent nodded, "If she needs more time, then that's what she'll get."

"Avery, Teagan. There's a bag in my car with different supplies, if they know were here and they're waiting until it's dark then we need to get the building as secure as possible so we need-" He started to say but it was clear that neither girl needed much guidance as they spoke up, "Alarm sensors."

He smiled proudly at them both and nodded as he said, "Yeah."

As the best friends neared his SUV, Teagan used the keys in her hand to unlock the back hatch.

Once it was opened, Avery got to work locating the supplies they needed but Teagan stood to the side with her arms crossed over her chest feeling a chill even in the warm sun.

She'd mean what she said to Isaac, that she was going to keep fighting but that didn't mean she'd forgotten Lorraine's warning and every passing second there was a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"T?" Avery asked as she gathered the last doorway sensor and turned to face her.

"You know it works both ways, right?" She whispered as she stared at the blonde.

"What?" she asked confused.

"What you said to me that day at school when we were kids… about how I'm stronger than I realize and even if you weren't physically there with me, that I'd be fine. You know that works both ways…" She said, her tone somber as she spoke.

"What is going on?" Avery asked, immediately worried by what she said and bringing up a memory that they normally only spoke of in life or death situations.

"It's just… what you did when you shut that door in my head. Maybe you messed with fate, screwed with some kind of balance and I'm really just living on borrowed time?" Teagan explained, not wanting to bring up Lorraine's warnings and stress her friend anymore.

"Maybe." The blonde said with a shrug, "But if so that means that I'm living on borrowed time too. I came right back… but that night Kate attacked me, I died T. and I wasn't even aware of what happened, but somehow I used my imperium powers and all of those birds sacrificed themselves so I could live."

"I know." She nodded, running her hands through her hair and blowing out a heavy breath as she said, "I just… I, I need to know that you'd be okay if something happened."

"You want me to stand here and tell you that if you died, I'd be fine?" Avery gasped.

Her best friend avoided her eyes and Avery scoffed.

"Because I can't and I won't do that. Teagan you are my sister and if I lost you… there is no way I'd come back from that. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to give you some sort of peace of mind with this because I want you to fight." Avery loudly said to her.

"I will fight, I am fighting. That's all I do anymore is fight for my life and fight to save everyone else…" She argued back.

"I know… and I know it sucks but we have to keep going. They have Meredith in custody at the station and Lydia's there… Stiles and Malia are working on it too. We're so close to putting a stop to this dead-pool, you need to hang in there just a little longer." Avery urged, Teagan nodded her head in agreement. Hanging in there, fighting for what she believed in and fighting for the ones she loved was exactly what she intended to do.

"Besides… we both know I've always needed you more than you needed me." Avery softly said as she put her free arm around her shoulders and gave her a half hug. Resting her head on her best friend's shoulder, Teagan argued, "That isn't true, A."

"It is… but that's fine because you're not going anywhere." The blonde assured her as she stepped back and shut the back of the SUV. Reaching into the bag she'd grabbed she took several sensors out before handing her the bag and dismissing the conversation as she said, "Now let's get get this building locked down."

**~()~**

It was over an hour later that they'd placed all of the censors and moved Satomi's pack into a more central room of the building.

Teagan and Avery had spread the guns they brought across a table and were getting to work on loading all of the guns, as Kira leaned against the table and nervously played with the strap on her katana holder.

Scott walked over to the table and saw Derek was watching the other pack with a concerned expression.

"They're going to be okay." Scott said.

Shaken from his thoughts, Derek looked back down as he loaded a clip into a handgun and said, "They're not fighters… they've got claws and fangs but it won't do them any good."

"That's why I called all of you." Scott explained glancing around at his friends.

"Yeah? Well try to remember that I don't have claws and fangs either." He sighed as he picked up another gun from the table.

"And you don't need them." Avery assured as she handed Teagan a box of shotgun ammo for the gun her friend was prepping.

Turning around Kira looked at them all surprised as she questioned, "Am I the only one still hoping this is all just a false alarm? I mean it's possible we could wait here all night and nothing happens."

"Possible… but I doubt it, I mean Avery said that the guy who tried to kill her had been following her for a while." Isaac pointed out as he entered the room with Chris Argent after the pair had done an exterior check of the building.

"Everyone is doing what they can to stop it." Teagan nodded with a small smile at Kira.

"What if there is no way to stop it? What if it doesn't end until we're all dead?" Brett spoke up, making it clear he was eavesdropping on the group of friends.

"There has to be a way to stop it, until then we keep fighting." Teagan sighed shaking her head at the teenager.

"Yeah." Avery agreed she walked over and stood next to Derek.

"Really?" Brett questioned her, "You said yourself someone tried to kill you last night, that he was part of a group of hunters. What if he got word back to everyone else and now they're all coming for us."

"That's impossible." Avery snapped rolling her eyes.

"How?" Brett pushed.

Dropping the gun she'd been prepping back onto the table she said, "Because I killed him, okay?"

The teenager's eyes slightly widened as he stared at the seemingly harmless petite blonde teenager.

"Wait; you what?" Kira softly asked as she looked over to her.

"It was him or me." Avery defended, looking down as Derek grabbed onto her hand and came to her defense, "She had to."

Looking down for a moment Derek took a deep breath before he loudly said, "We need to send a message. Let's make tonight perfectly clear to anyone with a copy of that list it doesn't matter if they're professional assassins, hunters or an amateur who picked up a gun."

Avery looked up at him surprised and he paused, his eyes moving over her bruised face and neck before he continued speaking to the room, "Anyone who thinks they can hunt and kill us for money is going to be put on another list, our list. They get to be a name on our dead-pool."

With a proud smile Avery squeezed her hand and nodded in agreement with him, it had taken him awhile to come around but finally they were on the same page.

It was a little while later and the sun was starting to go down when Avery's phone rang and she excused herself from the crowded room to take the call. When she came back in she had a troubled look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Teagan asked her as Derek questioned, "Who was it."

"It was Deputy Parrish." She admitted, tucking the phone in her pocket but still seeming worried.

"Well?" Isaac pushed when she stayed quiet.

"He's at the station and Meredith has agreed to talk… but only to Peter _and_ me, she said she needs both of us or she's not talking." Avery explained, as she dropped her arms to the side with a hopeless look.

"Then you have to go… she may be the only way to end this thing, once and for all." Teagan exclaimed as she stepped closer to her.

"But then that's one less person here to fight." She argued shaking her head, "I told Parrish I didn't know if I could be there, but I guess Peter is already on his way."

Isaac looked around before he said, "We can do this… Scott and I know how to fight, Teagan and Derek can use the weapons… Kira's got her sword and we've got Argent here too. We can do this, but she's right. Meredith may be our only hope at ending this for good and not just the night."

Avery shook her head and her eyes burned as she said, "You guys all want me to go?"

"I think it's our only option." Derek agreed. As much as he didn't want her to separate from him, he knew she had to go –just like he knew he had to stay there and fight.

After hugging Teagan bye and promising to make it back as soon as possible she found Derek just outside of the room and with a weak tone said, "I guess I need your keys…"

Pulling them from his pocket he placed them in her hand and said, "I'd go with you but-"

"It's okay, I know… your family protected this town." She said as her eyes stung, trying to joke she added in, "Plus, I'm not worried. Teagan's a total badass and I've trained you well."

He offered her a smile as he leaned down, pulling her face to his for a heated kiss before he wrapped her into a tight hug and said, "Just be careful… I need you to come back to me."

Breathing in one last breath of his comforting scent she pulled back and whispered, "And why is that again?"

With his forehead resting against hers he whispered back, "You know why."

"Remind me." She asked with a smile as she ran her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, her fingers absent mindedly playing with his hair as their eyes locked and he said, "Because I love you."

She smiled against his lips as he started to kiss her again before she softly said, "I love you too, so be careful. Once we get this dead-pool stopped once and for all, Kate will come out of hiding and we can get you all fixed up."

He nodded, "Right now, just focus on this dead-pool… and Avery, if Peter tries to talk to you at the station, don't listen to him." He cautioned.

"Don't worry." She assured him, "I know Peter can't be trusted."

After another sweet kiss she left the building, pausing next to Derek's car as an uneasy feeling arose in her stomach. She was leaving so much behind, almost all of her friends including Teagan and Derek were staying to fight and she had no idea what they were going to be up against. But just like she'd learned in her training with Allison, she needed to plot from strategy and not emotion. The best thing for her to do at this point was talk to Meredith.

With that thought she ignored the sinking feeling in her stomach and got into the car, started it and drove off towards the police station.

**~()~**

After Avery left to go to the police station, Teagan glanced around the room with a worried look on her face. She agreed with Derek's message earlier, it was time to send a message to all the assassins, it was time to stand up and fight, but she couldn't fight the chill. It was just like the day Allison died and that thought terrified her.

"Hey, you okay?" Isaac asked, as he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against him.

"Ask me again later." Teagan said. "Ask me after we get Satomi and her pack somewhere safe, after we stop the dead-pool." She turned around to face him, as she softly added,"Ask me after we all walk out of here alive."

"I will." Isaac promised. "Cause I know we will."

Teagan gave him a small smile, wishing she could believe his words. Knowing she needed it, he leaned forward to softly kiss her lips, before resting his forehead against hers and whispering,"It's you and me, babe. It's always you and me, okay?"

"Always." She whispered back. She pulled back to look at him, as she lightly ran a finger tip against his bottom lip. Her eyes flickered up to his, as she said,"I love you so much, Isaac Lahey. Never forget that, okay?"

"I won't. Cause you're going to keep telling me that every day." Isaac pointed out, as he shot her a look. He knew what she was trying to do and he wasn't going to allow that. She was walking out of the building alive, they both were.

He laid a hand on the side of her neck, as he added,"But just so you know, I love you too, and I will be telling you that again once this is over."

Teagan gave him a genuine smile, as she stepped up on her tip toes and brushed her lips against his for a quick kiss. He laid a hand on the back of her neck, bringing her back toward him as he gave her another kiss on the lips, then a small kiss on the tip of her nose, before he pulled back to smile at her.

She opened her mouth to say something until something over his shoulder caught her eye. It was Brett over by the table where the guns and other weapons were laid out. When she saw him pick up a gun, she rushed over to him, as she said,"Be careful with that." She took the semi-automatic pistol, from him, as she added,"That doesn't have a safety and it is loaded."

Brett let out a scoff, as he said,"You expect me to believe you know how to use a gun."

Teagan nodded her head toward the table, as she said,"There's not a weapon on this table that I don't know how to use." She folded her arms across her chest, as she added,"And even if I don't have a weapon, I guarantee I can still take you down."

His eyes traveled up and down, taking in her short frame, a chuckle left his lips, as he stated,"You think you can take me down?"

"Try me." Teagan challenged him.

"I wouldn't do it." Isaac spoke up and said, as he stepped up to stand beside his girlfriend.

"She's got you whipped I see." Brett said, as he glanced over at Isaac.

"No, but I know how good she is. Last time I trained with her, she tossed me around like I was nothing." Isaac said, remembering the day she was training Liam and he stepped in to help. He looked over at her, a proud smile on his face, as he stated,"My girl is a badass."

"I was trained by the best." Teagan pointed out with a sad smile, catching Chris' attention, as they both thought about Allison.

He knew how good his daughter was and knew how good Teagan and Avery were, he also knew no one in their right mind would try to take one of them on, but from the looks of it, Brett wasn't thinking clearly. He looked like he wanted to call her bluff and that was the last thing they needed right now.

"Okay, I think that's enough." Chris said, as he walked over to the three teens. He turned his head to look at Brett, as he added,"I'm sure you can hold your own, but trust me, you might want to let this one go." He looked over at Teagan, giving her a pained filled smile, as he added,"Like she said, she was trained by the best. She was trained by my daughter."

"She's a hunter?" Brett questioned with wide eyes. "How do we know we can trust her then? Maybe she is one of them?" He added, referring to the hunters that tried to kill him the night before.

"Cause if I wanted you dead, you would be." Teagan pointed out. "But I'm not the bad guy, Brett. Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes."

"What's that?" Brett asked confused.

"Our code... We protect those who can't protect themselves." Teagan answered, causing Chris to lower his head. He could still remember the day Allison suggested the new code, the two girls; Avery and Teagan were there, and it was the code all of them lived by.

After losing Allison he kind of forgot about that, kind forgot his purpose, but being around the teen girls, seeing them using the tools and tricks his daughter taught them, he realized Allison was never really gone. She lived on in them.

~()~

Several minutes later, Isaac was sitting off to the side on the floor with Teagan in his lap. The sun was completely down now and night had set in. Everyone was sitting around in the main room, waiting to see what would happen. They hoped nothing would happen, but they knew it would, they knew the assassins were coming for them, but they were ready for them.

Feeling Teagan shiver, Isaac pulled her closer to him and kissed the side of her head, as he whispered in her ear,"It's going to be okay."

"She should be here." Teagan softly said.

"Who? Avery?" Isaac questioned.

Teagan nodded her head to answer. She understood why Avery had to leave and on one hand she was glad she was not going to be in the middle of whatever was going to happen, but on the other hand it seemed like every time something was going on, they were separated. But it wasn't just her blonde friend that was missing. Her eyes flickered over to Chris; who was talking to Satomi. Her eyes began to water, as she whispered,"And Allison."

Isaac laid a hand on the side of her face, as he turned her to look at him, before he said,"She's with you, babe. She always is."

Teagan softly smiled at his words, as she leaned forward to rest her forehead against his, just enjoying the quiet moment with him. A few minutes later, she pulled back to give him a tender kiss, then saw Chris standing off to the side alone, with a rifle in his hand.

She looked back at Isaac, telling him she would be back, then stood up from his lap and made her way over to the older man. She could tell he was deep in thought as she came to a stop beside him.

"She would be happy that you're here." Teagan softly said, getting his attention.

He nodded his head, knowing she was talking about Allison. He cleared his throat, as he said,"And she would be proud of you and Avery. She trained you two to be fighters and leaders, and that is exactly what you two are." He laid a hand on her shoulder, giving it a small squeeze, as he added,"And she's not the only one proud. I'm proud of you two as well."

Teagan gave him a small smile before stepping forward and giving him a hug. He paused for a moment, then wrapped an arm around her shoulder to hug her back. Teagan pulled back and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything else, they heard one of the motion-sensor alarms going off.

"They're coming." Chris said, as he reached behind him to grabbed the hand gun in the waist band of his jeans. He handed Teagan the gun, as he told her to take cover.

Teagan took a few steps away from him, planning to make her way back toward Isaac, but before she could she saw several gas grenades being tossed into the room.

"Get down!" Teagan yelled out, warning Satomi's pack. She heard Isaac yelling out for her and tried to follow his voice, but the smoke was too thick to see through. She could barely see her own hand in front of her, much less see across the room to locate her boyfriend.

She opened her mouth to yell back at him until she saw several helmeted and heavily armed gunmen enter the room and began to shoot at all of them. She raised the gun in her hand and began to shoot as she took several steps back until she slammed into someone's back.

She gasped and planned to turn around and shoot, scared it was one of the gunmen, until Derek spoke up, letting her know it was only him.

"How many are there?" Teagan called out, wondering if he could see how many gunmen were in the room.

"Too many." Derek yelled back.

"I'm almost out of bullets." Teagan confessed. If she couldn't get to the other weapons soon she knew she wouldn't last for much longer, not while she was out in the open like she was.

Derek reached back to grab her arm, pulling her around to face him so he could block for her. He nodded his head to the side as he said,"Weapons are to the left. Go!"

Just as she was running out of bullets, she was lucky enough to stumble across the table that held the rest of the guns and weapons. It was exactly where Derek said it would be. She grabbed another hand gun, placing it in the waist band of her jeans, then grabbed a few daggers just in case, shoving them into her coat pocket. Lastly, she grabbed a rifle as she kneeled down by the table for cover, firing off a few shots.

She could hear some werewolf growls coming from behind her and wondering if it could be Isaac. She needed to find him, she needed to know he was okay. As soon as their was a break of gunfire, Teagan stood up and ran toward the noise she heard earlier, hoping to find her boyfriend.

She paused when she saw a gunman holding a gun on several of Satomi's pack members. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a dagger and throwing it toward the man, hitting him in the leg and causing him to fall to his knees with a painful groan.

She ran over toward them, jerking the helmet off before hitting the man in the head with the end of her gun, knocking him out. She held out her hand to pack members, telling them to follow her. She led them down a hall, shooting at gunmen or punching them if needed, then ushered them into an empty room far away from where the gunfight was happening. She told them to stay there, then went back down the hall, looking for more pack members.

When she saw Brett fighting a gunmen, she ran over toward them. She grabbed on to the vest the gunman was wearing, pulling him away from Brett. He turned around, swinging his gun toward her, but she quickly ducked to blocked up, then stood back up and threw out her leg, kicking him in the chest and knocked him back against a wall and causing him to sink down to the floor.

She turned around to look at Brett; who had a surprised look on his face. From their talk earlier he knew she was trained, but he still couldn't imagine someone like her being able to fight. She was a girly girl and looked like the type that would cry if she broke a nail, but yet here she was saving his ass.

He gave her a nod, as if to say thanks. She nodded back and told him to run. She went to turn around, planning to search more for pack members until she felt someone grab her and push her back against a wall.

She looked up, preparing to fight whoever it was until she realized it was Isaac. She opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing until she heard gunfire. The gunman she thought she knocked out was back up and about to shoot her until Isaac grabbed her and used his body to shield her.

The couple heard a growl, then looked over to see Scott grabbed the gunman and toss him away from them. Seeing that they were out of danger for the moment, Isaac breathed out a sigh of relief before leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers for a quick minute.

He pulled back to brush her hair from her face, his eyes glanced over her to make sure she wasn't hurt. His fingertips lightly touched her cheek, as he asked,"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay." Teagan breathed out. "Are you?"

He nodded his head, as he reached down to grab her hand, before saying,"Come on."

The two ran down a hallway together, they were almost back to the main room, until a couple of gunmen came into view, causing them to skid to a stop. Teagan held up the rifle in her hand, as Isaac let out a growl, both were ready to fight.

They didn't know how much longer this attack was going to last, but neither one was giving up. They would fight side by side until the very end. They would fight with their last breath. They both had something worth fighting for and would never stop trying.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Ahh! Guys, we're so close to posting the end of season 4! ^_^ **

**If you guys aren't following us on Tumblr, you're missing out. We're always posting Blue Moon related stuff and today we'll be posting some pretty cool Blue Moon gif edits!**

**We owe xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, SmellYourScentForMiles, and the lovely xxxRena a huge thank you for reviewing the last chapter!**


	41. A Look Into The Past

**Chapter Forty One – A Look Into The Past**

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><p>"Hey." Avery greeted as she walked into the room at the station where Sheriff Stilinski, Peter and Lydia were all watching Meredith through the two way mirror in the small room off to the side of the interrogation room.<p>

Glancing over his shoulder, Peter arched a brow and asked, "What the hell happened to you?"

"An assassin." She admitted stepped up beside him, with venom in her voice.

"Why do you say that like it's my fault?" He asked, amused at her.

"Because you're the only non-human I know who isn't on that list and I don't believe in coincidences." She shot back at him.

"You really think I had something to do with this? That I would put my own nephew and my daughter on a dead-pool?" He continued to question the teen.

"I think it wouldn't be the worst thing you've done." Lydia snarkily replied.

Sighing and rolling his eyes Peter said, "When are you people going to start trusting me?"

"Never." Lydia, Avery and the sheriff all answered at once.

Rolling his eyes again, he looked back through the two way mirror and eyed Meredith as he realized, "That's the girl who stole my money?"

"That girl is a banshee…" Lydia reminded him, glancing at the werewolf from the corner of her eye she continued, "They're more dangerous than you'd think."

"Oh, I think that girl's pilot light went out a long time ago." He muttered then pulled in a breath and said, "Sheriff, not to question the unquestionably sterling reputation of your department… but are you absolutely sure you've got the one?"

He looked over to him, as the sheriff sighed, "Just go in there and see what she has to say."

Nodding to the door leading into the room, Peter smirked at Avery and said, "Ladies first."

"Avery." The sheriff call out stopping her before she walked into the other room, "If you don't want to do this, you don't have too." He assured her, knowing she'd been through a lot the night before.

Offering him a smile she nodded, "I know, but it's okay… we need her to talk and for some reason, my being here has something to do with that."

He nodded to her and Lydia gave her a hopeful smile as Avery pushed the door to the room open and walked in, her eyes went to where Meredith sat up straight in her seat before Avery's gaze lingered on Deputy Parrish standing off to the side of the room. He was in the room for safety, even though he wasn't sure if he was supposed to protecting Meredith from Peter or the other way around.

Avery nodded at Parrish with a small smile, which he returned before she took a seat on the opposite side of the table from Meredith and Peter sat down next to Avery facing the banshee.

"Meredith." Avery greeted.

With a smile Meredith greeted back, "Avery." Then her smile fell some as she leaned forward and whispered, "It's back… the darkness, it's back."

Avery sighed and adjusted in seat uncomfortably as she saw Parrish watching her, but as she looked down to the table she missed the small smirk on Peter's lips as he glanced at her.

Getting right down to business, Peter asked, "Where's my money?"

When he was met by a confused look from Meredith, he clarified, "More correctly, what's left of it."

Avery watched with slightly widened eyes as Meredith reached across the table and laid her hand against the side of Peter's face. The blonde teen looked between them as they stared at each other and Meredith trailed her hand down his face.

"Okay…" Avery breathed, "I'm just going to leave you guys to this-" She started to stand up, but Peter quickly grabbed onto her arm and pulled her back down into her seat; at the same time he grabbed onto Meredith's wrist and roughly jerked her hand away from his face.

"Let them go!" Parrish yelled, his hand on his gun, ready to pull it from his holster at a moment's notice.

Avery made a small pained noise and rubbed her arm where he'd grabbed her and looked up to Parrish, nodding to let him know she was okay.

"Why did you do that?" Peter questioned, looking down to the table.

"They're all gone…" Meredith breathed out, surprise on her face.

Avery's eyes widened as she looked over to Peter in the seat next to her and she remembered the first time she'd seen him when he was a patient at the hospital and Derek had taken her along with him when he'd been trying to figure out who the alpha was.

Remembering half of his face was covered in burn scars Avery gasped, "His scars?"

Peter turned his head, keeping it lowered slightly as he looked at the blonde from under his eyebrows with an intense stare.

Nodding her head, Meredith looked at Avery and explained, "His burns… they're all –gone."

"You know him." Avery realized as she stood from her seat putting distance between herself and Peter, as she looked at Meredith with wide eyes.

"Well, this is news to me because I don't know her." Peter added in as he locked eyes with the banshee, who scooted down in her seat some like a child being scolded.

When she didn't say anything, Peter loudly exclaimed, "Meredith you put everyone… including my daughter and my nephew on a death-list, don't you think you owe us the slightest explanation of why?"

Leaning forward and talking in a soft, almost beaten sounding voice Meredith replied, "You said it had to be kept secret."

"I said? I said that… to you?" Peter laughed, with an amused expression.

"I knew it!" Avery yelled as he pointed a finger at Peter and accused, "I knew you were behind this somehow because you were the only one not on that list… I knew it. So, that day at Derek's loft when I showed up and you had that axe in your chest, what was that? Just some kind of cover so we wouldn't suspect you?"

Rolling his eyes in irritation, he slammed his hands down on the table causing both Meredith and Avery to jump as Peter looked to the blonde teenager and yelled back, "I don't know what she's talking about! I didn't do this!"

"Right." She hissed with venom in her voice.

Sitting down in the seat next to Meredith, Avery looked at her and said, "Meredith… I need you tell me what's going on? Did Peter put you up to this?"

Meredith raised her head and looked across the table at him before she lowered her head and refused to reply.

"If he's threatening you, if you're scared of him… I can protect you." Avery tried to assure her, hoping to get the answers they needed and fast because her friends were more than likely facing off against a group of hunters and she wanted to get back to help them.

"I'm not threatening anyone!" Peter yelled before he raised his eyebrows as he spoke to Avery, "Alright, let's say for argument sake that I am behind all of this, I'm not but we'll pretend this is all my fault, that still leaves one huge question –why are you here?"

Avery glanced down with a confused look as she realized she didn't have answer for that question, she had no idea why out of all the people in Beacon Hills, Meredith had picked to talk to her and Peter.

Rolling her eyes at Peter actually having a point, Avery looked over to Meredith beside her and asked, "Why am I here?"

"Because you need to know why I did this… because it all goes back to the start." Meredith whispered as she rocked in her chair.

"The start of what?" Avery pushed for an explanation.

"Your mom." Meredith answered, but her words only made the entire situation even more baffling.

Avery looked up to see Peter looking at her, seeming just as confused as she was.

"You know what she did… she told you." Meredith continued to whisper to the blonde.

"What?" Avery exclaimed as she rubbed her forehead.

Peter looked between them as he pointed out to Meredith, "I'm going to point out yet again that we have never met… and I'm really running out of patience here, what does any of this have to do with Aleine Dukate?"

"You don't remember what she told you?" Meredith breathed looking to Avery, and then looking back to Peter as she asked, "You don't remember me?"

"No…" He growled looking between as he said, "But maybe one of you knows what's going on here…"

Before anyone had time to respond, Peter jumped up and threw the table between all of them across the room, when Parrish tried to stop him the werewolf effortlessly threw him against the wall and within seconds was behind Meredith and Avery's chairs with his claws embedded in each of their necks.

**~()~**

Avery's eyes opened and she looked around, immediately recognizing where she was as at the local hospital.

Her heart started to race from fear as her mind swarmed with thoughts and memories trying to figure out where she was and how she'd gotten there. Slowly her thoughts came in clear enough she remembered being at the station with Peter and Meredith, and then pain… a sharp pain at the back of her neck. With that thought she raised her hand to the back of her neck but stopped when someone walked by her with a familiar prescience in the air.

Without a second thought Avery followed the woman into a room where, the stranger turned and shut the door behind her before she paused at a small table near the door and removed the decorative silk scarf she'd been wearing over her head and the large dark framed sunglasses that covered her face.

Avery took a step back and gasped as she realized the woman was her mother.

Pulling in a deep breath Aleine, shook her head as she clicked her tongue and walked over to one of the beds as she sighed, "Oh Peter… just look at you, what a mess."

Avery rushed over to the opposite side of the bed that her mother was standing on as she looked down to Peter's badly burned body.

"I would have come to visit sooner… but I had to get a handle on my powers, on the darkness before I could return to town." She breathed as she reached a hand out and laid it on the uninjured side of his head, his eyes popped open in response and he opened his mouth like he was trying to say something but couldn't form words.

"Shh…" She breathed, before adding in, "The pain is excruciating, isn't it. I know what you're thinking, Peter… you're thinking your body is going to heal from this. That it's only a matter of time before you're up and walking around and but why should you get to live for another second with your sister –when Talia is dead? Aleine said in a pained voice as she wiped a tear from her cheek and sat down on the bed beside him.

"I was right there. I was right beside her when those monsters locked us all in the basement and set the house on fire. It took me a while but I finally got that door unlocked so we could get out, but the humans in your family were all already dead from the fire and smoke… all of the wolves were weakened from the wolfsbane bombs they'd set off before throwing everyone in the basement." Another tear rolled down her cheek and she brushed it away, her voice shook as she continued, "I could have saved Talia, I had every chance in the world to get her out of there and that's what I was going to do… but she was worried about her younger brother. So she told me to get you out of there…"

"But by the time I got you out of the house, I couldn't go back in for anyone else. There's something wrong with you Peter, something broken inside of you and I don't know what went wrong with you but what I do know is –you don't deserve to be here, you don't deserve to live. But out of respect for one of closest and dearest friends, I'm not going to kill you." She reasoned as she stood up, drying the rest of her tears and letting out a shaky breath she continued, "But I'm not going to let live either."

Peter's eyes widened as he helplessly squirmed around in the bed, but still couldn't make a sound or defend himself as Aleine put her hand back on his head and closed her eyes as she said, "My job is to maintain balance, even out the darkness with the light… and you're a monster Peter. The only way I can fix my mistake of saving you instead of your sister is make sure that you never wake up, that you never step a foot outside of this hospital."

Avery gasped as she saw the werewolves' eyes flutter shut and all of the machinery around him start to beep as lines on the screens jumped until everything fell silent and his vitals showed steady, but he was completely motionless.

"Because of my actions that day, I can't stay here… I can't have a family anymore. I used the power from the nemeton to save myself but at a high cost… because now I can't fight the darkness anymore. It's a part of me and now I have to leave everything –I have to leave my daughter behind." Her voice was barely over a whisper as she leaned down and spoke quietly above Peter's body, "The only peace of mind I have is knowing that while you lay here, entirely helpless and defenseless –you're awake inside of your head. That's your punishment."

Standing up Aleine smoothed her dress out and took a deep breath as she walked over to the table and picked up her scarf and sunglasses, disguising her appearance before she turned and looked back to the bed one more time and shook her head, "Just look at me, what I've become… and what's left your family, Peter? Oh… how the mighty have fallen."

Avery watched with tears running down her face as her mom left the room, pulling the door shut behind her as she went. The blonde teenager looked around, still not sure what was happening or how to make any of it stop.

Her blurry eyes focused on the machines for a moment before she reached a trembling a hand on Peter's arm, immediately gasping in pain as she could feel every ounce of pain he was in –hear every thought racing through his head, as she looked around the room she saw Meredith was in the bed next to his and she could hear everything too.

Even though Peter's body laid motionless in the bed, hooked up to all of the equipment and machinery –his body seemed to be the last place he actually existed, his thoughts and pain bounced off of the walls, filling up every corner and empty space as if he were a force of nature and not a person.

Looking over Avery could see Peter sitting on the side of Meredith's bed, his voice was jumbled and rushed with emotion and rage as he spoke.

"_I predicted this. I told Talia something like this was going to happen. I said they were going to come for us –the Argents, that they were going to burn us to the ground. But did she listen? Of course not, no one listened… but they'd listen to her. She said everything was going to be fine, that we were safe… our family perfectly safe. But she made us weak!"_

Gasping in pain Avery let go of his arm and held onto her head, but Peter's voice didn't stop. She couldn't see him in the room anymore but she could still feel him, and nothing could make his voice and his pained ramblings stop. Looking over she saw Meredith twitching in her bed and Avery knew somehow they were all on the same wavelength, it occurred to her Meredith had heard all of Peter's thoughts for weeks… possible even months.

"_And what happens to weakest in the heard? They get picked off by all of the predators. We used to be the apex predators until Talia turned us into sheep. But I'll start over. Like a vengeful god, I will raze this earth to the ground! I will take out all of them, not just the wolves but the wendigos, the banshees, every shapeshifter… I will obliterate the weak. And I will remake the supernatural of Beacon Hills in my image."_

Dropping to the floor on her knees from the pain and torment of his voice she covered her ears, but it was useless. It didn't block out his voice at all, it was like he was inside of her head –as if his every thought was somehow her own and there was no escape from it.

"_And I won't have to do any of it. Because I'll hire people assassins and professional killers. People like the mute and the chemist… even someone like the desert wolf. I'll use the money in the vault, all of the bearer bonds… I'll use every penny if I have to and I'll start with the professionals and then maybe I'll disseminate the list further. No, no… not a list –a dead-pool. Eventually everyone will want a chance, anyone can become a killer for the right price because when it comes down to it; everyone can be corrupted by money!"_

Avery's breathing grew increasingly labored as she struggled to try and get to her feet, to get away from his voice and his thoughts but just as she reached the hospital door she heard something from Peter that stopped her in her tracks.

"_And I know who will go at the top of that list… Aleine Dukate, wait no… that's far more kindness than she deserves. I'm going to take out everyone she cares about, at the top of that dead-pool will be her daughter. That little blonde brat of her's that's always hanging around –there's something different with her, I can't feel it –the power radiating off of her… but it's such a waste, she's weak and why is power that great always wasted on the weak? It's not right…I'll put her at the top of the list, I'll pay millions to have her killed because the only person who should have that kind of power is me! And then I'll hunt Aleine, I'll prove that she can't couldn't keep me down. Because I'm going to get out of hospital… cell by cell I'll force my body to heal until I'm free again. And then they'll all pay… every single one of them will pay."_

Not able to stand it anymore, Avery pulled the door open and rushed out slamming it shut behind her and breathing out a sigh of relief when it was silent again, the thoughts she could hear were hers and her alone. But when she opened her eyes instead of being back in the hallway of the hospital was she in her bedroom, everything looked exactly as it looked when she was child. The walls were pink and purple striped with a glittery silver flower boarder running around the room about two-thirds of the way up the wall.

Her eyes stopped on the sight of her child self and young Teagan sound asleep in the twin sized bed, the girls barely visible among all of the stuffed animals on the beds with them, Avery had lots of her own and whenever Teagan stayed the night she'd bring all of her favorite ones as well.

Avery's attention was drawn over towards the door when it slowly creaked open and lit up the room with light from the hallway. The teenager looked over to see her child self stir in the bed and groggily raise her head as she gasped, "Mom?"

Aleine crossed the room carefully sitting down on the side of the mattress and pulling her young daughter into her lap as she breathed, "Shh… we don't want to wake little Tea Rose up." Aleine looked over and lovingly placed a hand on the side of the sleeping brunette's face before looking back to her own daughter.

Tears flooded down the young girls face as she stared up at her mother, who she believed had been dead for almost a month, she opened her mouth and stuttered out some inaudible noises but her mom shushed and comforted her as he held her close and tears ran down her own face, "Oh, Avery you have no idea how much I've missed you and your dad. I'd give anything in the world to come back to you both, I'd give anything… but I can't."

"Why?" Young Avery sobbed against her mom's neck as she desperately clutched onto her.

"It's not safe…" Aleine admitted, her voice hoarse as she spoke and gently pulled her daughter back some so she could get a good look at her, holding onto the sides of her small face Aleine said, "But it won't be forever… I'll come back as soon as I can."

"No…" Avery cried, her chest rising and falling heavily as she shook her head back and forth, her unruly mess of blonde hair flying wildly around her as she begged, "Mommy please don't leave… don't leave me."

"Shhh." Her mom hushed as her own chin quivered and she gently slid the young child off of her lap and into the bed beside her as she whispered, "I'm not leaving yet… just close your eyes, everything's going to be okay."

Avery did as she was told, her hand clutching onto a couple of her mom's fingers as she closed her eyes and hoped that if she was good and did as she was told, her mom might not leave her again.

Looking down Aleine gently stroked her daughter's hair as she explained, "If I had any other option, I'd stay… but I can't, not right now. Something happened and it isn't your fault, but I have to go away for a while, until I can control myself." Swallowing hard she continued, "And Avery you're so beautiful and so smart, but you scare me sometimes… you're so young but you've never looked at things the way other kids do, you've never had that childlike innocence –not like sweet little Teagan." She continued as she reached over stroking Teagan's hair before focusing her attention back on her daughter.

"I think that's why you're always trying to protect her so much, I've never seen someone your age be like that a friend… even as close as you two are, there's something different about it. Like you're trying to protect all of the things about her that you don't have. And I wish things were different, you're so young to already see the world for what it is and I wish I could change that, somehow fix that for you… but I can't." She admitted, swatting tears away from her cheeks as she spoke.

Letting out a small sob she said, "I'll never forget the day that you were born… you barely even cried. And once they got all you cleaned up and handed you to me… you were so little… just this innocent tiny baby. But when I looked down at you for the first time, you just stared right back at me with those little beautiful eyes and it wasn't the same way babies look at things with that sense of wonder and amazement –no, you just stared right at me… like you already knew so much about the world and I knew from that moment that you were special."

Avery stood in place across the room watching her mother continue to talk to her childhood self, with tears running down her own cheeks. The teenager didn't understand why she had no memory at all of this night.

"And the older you get, the more it's becoming clear that you're different… even more special than I'd originally thought… and it scares me, Avery you love books about monsters the way that Teagan loves books about princesses. You're drawn to this world, this dangerous and dark world but you're too good for all of this and I want so much more for you." Aleine stared down to her daughter, trailing her fingers over her smooth, fair skin before she pulled in a deep breath and admitted, "I told you that monsters aren't real… but that was a lie. Monsters are real and sometimes they take the shape of people and you never see them coming. There are people in this world who are power hungry and if they only knew how special you are, they'd use you for it. They would kill for that kind of power."

Pulling her hand away from her daughter's grip, she continued, "Which is why I did a terrible a thing today..." Her mind drifted back to her using her power to keep Peter locked inside of his own head, "But Beacon Hills will be a safer place for you to grow up because of it."

Avery raised her head with a confused expression at her mom's words. Reaching up to her neck, Aleine pulled off her necklace a small silver chain with a small pendant of a threefold Celtic knot hanging from it.

Leaning down she placed the necklace on her daughter's neck and smiled, "This necklace has been in my family for a very long time…"

"A good luck charm?" Avery questioned in a hoarse voice as she ran her thumb over the pendant.

"Yeah, sort of." Aleine said with a sad laugh as she asked, "You know how sometimes when you get mad the lights flicker or strange things happen like that?"

Avery nodded.

"Well when you feel like that… you need to just take a breath and hold onto this necklace. Do you know what a lightning rod is?" She asked her young daughter.

When she shook her head back and forth Aleine smiled and explained, "Some buildings have these metal rods that stick out, pointing towards the sky. And the idea of it is that if lightening strikes it will hit that rod and then dispersed throughout the ground so that it flows back into the earth."

Gently rubbing the side of her daughter's face she explained, "This necklace is like your own personal lightening rod, when you feel that buzzing in your fingertips like before you make the lights flicker when you get mad, focus on this necklace… just like the lightening rod does for the building, this necklace will help protect you –it help distribute your power back into the earth, draw some of it away from you. So yeah, you could call it your good luck charm."

"I… I don't understand." Avery admitted, her little face twisted with confusion and pain as she looked up to her mother.

Smiling, her mother gently smoothed Avery's hair out and said, "You will, honey. One day you'll understand everything, but for tonight you just need to go to sleep." She said as she pushed her daughters head lightly back down onto her pillow and told her to close her eyes as she pulled a small container with an herb paste from her pocket and took the lid off.

"I wish you could understand it now, so that you'd know why I have to leave… but you're too young." She breathed, with tears running down her cheeks as she for the herb paste on her finger and drew a small symbol on her daughters forehead that resembled the necklace she'd give her as she whispered, "Which is why I have to do another terrible thing , I have to take every memory you have of the supernatural away from you for your own good."

Once the symbol was complete; she laid her hand over her daughters forehead and concentrated until the young girl stopped whimpering in pain and laid perfectly still.

Standing up she wiped her tears before leaning back down and rubbing the herb paste off of Avery's forehead and kissing her on the top of her head as she whispered, "I love you, Avery."

Standing back up, she gently placed a hand on both the side of Teagan's face and on her own daughter's face as she quietly whispered, "I love you both… and when the time is right, I'll be back. We'll get out of this cursed town and never look back. I promise."

Avery leaned back against the wall behind her as she ran her fingers through her hair and cried, when she heard everything her mom said and then watched her watched out of the room leaving young Avery and Teagan sleeping soundly in the bed.

As deeply buried as the memory was, parts if must not have been so hidden she thought to herself as she remember all of the times over the past several months she felt like she as going to explode from the power inside of her and she'd worn the necklace to calm her down, only at the time she didn't understand why it hard worked

"Mom, wait!" Avery shouted, even though she knew it was an unburied memory and her mom wasn't there and couldn't hear her she stilled tried to run after her, but when she reached the top of the stairs she lost her balance and started to fall as everything went black.

When she opened her eyes with a loud gasp for air, she saw Parrish standing over her as he kept her in her seat and Lydia was holding Meredith in her seat as well, both girls extremely weakened by what the werewolf had done to them.

"Are you okay?" Deputy Parrish asked her, concerned as he moved her hair to get a look at the back of her neck, frowning at the still bleeding puncture wounds.

"I'm fine… I'm fine." She weakly said as he helped her stand up.

"She got it from you!" Lydia as accused a Peter tried to scramble to his feet as the sheriff pointed a gun at him.

"I was out of my mind!" Peter argued with them, "Do you know what it's like for one of us to be locked in a coma? Paralyzed but cognizant? You try not going crazy."

"Meredith was listening to you." Deputy Parrish said, as he kept an eye on Avery to make sure she was okay.

"She was listening to the ranting and raving of a lunatic -a former lunatic, I'm much healthier now. I had nothing to do with this." The werewolf held his ground.

Still keeping his gun pointed at Peter, the sheriff pointed out, "If she was following your lead on this, then how do we know there isn't more?"

"H-he's right…" Avery breathed as she stepped up by the sheriff and in a trembling voice admitted, "I hate to agree with him, but he's telling the truth. He didn't know what he was doing… he was in agonizing pain but awake the entire time inside of his head. Listening to that for a few moments was enough to drive me insane."

Peter nodded at her words and slightly smirked at the sheriff.

"Stop. Stop it. This is what she wants. It's why she's here. Look around, Sheriff. There's four people in here right now who are still on the dead pool; me, Avery, Parrish... and Meredith. This is exactly what she wants!" Lydia yelled, but no one seemed to hear her except for Parrish who reasoned, "But not him."

"Lydia's right, we don't want to kill each other." Peter said.

With an angry tone, the sheriff argued, "The only person I'm pointing a gun at is you."

"Then you'd better make it a perfect shot because I don't go down easily." The werewolf smugly responded.

"I'm willing to bet that a bullet between the eyes doesn't heal real fast... Not even for your kind." Sheriff Stilinski argued with him.

"Stop it, please!" Lydia pleaded.

Seeing he wasn't lowering his gun, Peter stammered out, "This department's getting more corrupted by the second. What are you going to charge me with, Sheriff? How are you going to explain this to a judge? Telepathic girl overhears thoughts of comatose werewolf and decides to enact his plans for retribution? Hmm…"

"Let him go, you have to let him go." Lydia pleaded.

Seeing the situation wasn't getting any better Avery walked over beside Peter and looked at the sheriff as she said, "If you kill him it's going to raise too many questions, okay? Lydia's right, you have to let him go."

Putting her hands against Peter's side she pushed him towards the door as she continued to look at Stiles' dad and reason, "We're leaving… no triggers pulled –no blood shed, we're just going to leave peacefully."

Right as the got to the door way, the sheriff called out, "Peter, that's twice now… there's not gonna be a third."

Sighing when the werewolf looked over his shoulder with a smirk at the sheriff, Avery put her palms against his back and physically pushed him out of the room, as she pulled the door shut behind them. Then briskly walked around him without looking back or even coming to a stop until she reached Derek's car.

As she opened the driver's door she looked over to see Peter walking out of the station and against her better judgment she called out to him, "Peter…"

When he paused and looked at her, she asked, "Did you just see the stuff that happened at the hospital or did you see the other thing to?"

He glanced to the sidewalk and for a moment she thought he was going to ignore her, until he looked back up and said, "Your mother ended up crazier than I was… but she was right about something –you are special."

With those words he disappeared around the side of the building, and she knew he'd seen everything in her mind the same way she had. Closing her eyes she took in a deep breath to calm her nerves before getting into the car and driving off.

**~()~**

Avery pulled the car into the parking lot then slammed on the brakes. After learning what Meredith had to say, she rushed to the car, trying to get back to the others. Stiles had called her on the way and said they turned the machine off, meaning the dead-pool was off; which was good news. Avery just hoped it wasn't too late, she hoped that Derek, Teagan and the rest of her friends were okay.

She raced into the building, looking through the smoky haze, trying to locate the others. She didn't hear any guns or see any assassins which was a good sign, she would just feel better once she saw Derek and her friends.

"Derek!" She yelled out. She heard him yell out her name in return before she felt someone wrap their arms around her. She froze for a moment, ready to attack, until she caught a whiff of his scent and realized it was her boyfriend.

She blew out a breath, relieved to see he was okay. When she left earlier she had a bad feeling and the further away she got from the building the worst the feeling got. She had half expected to walk in and find him dead, but was relieved to see she was wrong. There was no way she could survive without him and now that the dead-pool was done, they can concentrate on saving him, on fixing what Kate did to him.

She pulled back from him, grabbing his face and pulling him toward her to press her lips against his for a heated kiss. She gripped his shoulders as she desperately moved her lips against his, feeling like she never wanted to let him go.

Hearing footsteps coming toward them, Derek broke the kiss, as they glanced beside them and saw Scott and Kira. Avery smiled at them, then glanced over their shoulders, seeing Chris, Satomi and her pack; everyone seemed to be okay.

"Is it over? Really over?" Kira asked them.

Scott smiled at her, as Derek nodded his head. Avery opened her mouth to speak, but before she could say a word, they heard Isaac's panicky voice, as he yelled out,"Guys... GUYS!"

Avery turned around to look at the beta and felt her heart drop at the scene in front of her. Isaac was sitting in a corner with a bleeding Teagan laying in his lap. From where she was standing she couldn't even tell if her best friend was awake or breathing.

"No... No, no, no!" Avery yelled out, as she ran over toward them, falling to her knees beside her best friend. Now that she was beside her, she could see that she was breathing, barely, but her eyes were closed at the moment.

"How-How... Where is she shot? How bad is it?" Avery asked, her voice going in and out, as she tried to keep her emotions under control. She had to remember what she learned, remember her training and she usually could. That is until she saw her best friend bleeding out on the floor.

"I can't- I can't tell." Isaac cried out. He brushed some hair from her sweaty forehead, leaving traces of her blood across her skin. He glanced down at his bloody hands in shock, they were covered with her blood. This was never supposed to happen. He was supposed to protect her, he was supposed to save her, but he didn't. He had let her down and now he was going to lose her. His worst nightmare was coming true right in front of his eyes.

"Isaac!" Avery yelled out, trying to get him to focus. "We-We have to stop it. We have to stop the blood."

"There's too much." Isaac mumbled, as he pulled her body closer to him. "She's bleeding too much, Avery. There's-There's too much."

"I know, that is why we have to stop it." Avery stated, as she shrugged off her coat and pressed where she hoped the wound was. Like Isaac said there was too much blood and it was hard to tell exactly where she was shot at.

Behind them, Chris hung up the phone after calling for help. He sent Scott and Kira off, telling them to take Satomi and her pack somewhere else. The two didn't want to leave, but they knew the police would be showing up soon and it would be hard to explain why all of them were there.

With just the five of them there, Chris was planning to tell the cops that they showed up and caught a group of robbers; who fired off several shots while fleeing the scene and Teagan got caught in the crossfire.

Chris looked down at the floor, flashing back to that horrible night at Oak Creek, when he saw his daughter on the ground bleeding out. Now there was another young girl bleeding, someone else's daughter was on the ground dying. No matter how hard they tried, someone always got hurt.

Avery pressed her coat more against the wound, causing Teagan to groan out in pain, but kept her eyes closed. "You're hurting her." Isaac croaked out, seeing how much pain his girlfriend was in.

"I know, I'm sorry!" Avery called out. "But it's how we stop the bleeding." She glanced down to look at her best friend, as she whispered out,"I'm sorry. T, I'm so sorry."

Isaac grabbed Teagan's hand, squeezing it, as he began to take her pain away. He continued to hold her hand as she began to groan out more. Her breathing picked up, as she opened her eyes, trying to focus on them.

"Isaac..." Teagan breathed out. "Don't take... pain." She mumbled out, as she tried to pull her hand away, but was too weak. She didn't want him taking her pain. She never wanted him to feel what she was feeling at the moment.

"Shh, it's okay, babe. You're going to be okay." Isaac whimpered out, as he took more of her pain. Once her face began to relax, he released her hand, knowing she wasn't hurting as much now, which he hoped was a good sign.

When he saw her began to close her eyes again, he spoke up,"Hey.. hey, look at me. Keep your eyes on me, okay babe? Just stay with me." He leaned down to kiss the top of her head, as he pleaded,"Please stay with me, Teagan."

Teagan opened her eyes again, as she breathed out his name, getting his attention. She reached up, her finger barely touching his lip before she whispered out,"You changed my life... with one kiss."

"You changed mine too. You changed me, Teagan, and I need you so badly. You can't leave me, babe. You can't." Isaac pleaded. He leaned down to kiss her head again, as he whispered out,"It's you and me, always. Always, Teagan."

"Teagan.." Avery cried out, when she saw her eyes closing again. "Damn it, Teagan, open your eyes! Fight this, okay? I know you can fight this."

Teagan slowly opened her eyes, seeing her blonde best friend above her. She tried to smile at her, as she slowly began to sing, her voice barely above a whispered,"Firefly... Firefly..."

"Don't go away." Avery finished singing for her. When she saw her close her eyes again, a sob broke out, as Avery yelled out,"Don't go away, T. Teagan, please, don't go away."

Avery could barely hear the sirens pulling up outside or Isaac as he cried and begged for Teagan to wake up. In this moment, she couldn't hear anything, as she leaned forward and rested her head on Teagan's chest. All she wanted to hear was Teagan's heartbeat, which she thankfully did. It was faint, but it was beating.

Isaac felt like the whole world slowed down. He didn't even notice as paramedics rushed into the room to help. When he felt someone pulling him away from Teagan, he fought against them, not wanting to let her go, but no matter how hard he fought, Chris never gave up and was finally able to pull him away, but it wasn't easy. He told Isaac they were trying to save her. He needed to let them do their jobs.

Avery sat numbly by her best friend, watching the paramedics working on her. She felt her fingers tingling. She could save her, she knew she could. She reached out, her fingers inches from her, when Derek reached down, grabbing her under her arms and pulling her up. He turned her to face him and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. He glanced up for a moment, seeing a light overhead flickering and quietly swore to himself.

He ran a hand up and down her back, whispering words of comfort, but she never heard a word he said.

In that moment her whole world, like Isaac's, just shattered and nothing would ever be the same.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- So much was revealed about Avery's past and poor Teagan! What are your guys' thoughts on this crazy chapter? Don't forget to leave a review and let us know!**

**Thanks so much to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Iris RainbowWolf, and xxxRena for reviewing chapter 40! We really appreciate it. ^_^**


	42. Feels Like The End

**Chapter Forty Two – Feels Like The End**

* * *

><p>"What the hell is going on? They've had her back there for hours!" Isaac nervously asked, loudly as he paced the floor of the waiting room in the hospital.<p>

Avery blew out breath as she shook her head and looked from Isaac over to where Teagan's dad was sitting next to her with his head in his hands.

Everyone had been calling for updates on Teagan's condition, but there wasn't much any of them could say. Lydia had went a few hours ago after Avery promised she'd call the moment something changed and everyone else that had stopped by they'd also sent home.

They knew everyone wanted to be there for Teagan, but having the waiting room crowded was only adding more stress on Teagan's dad so out of respect, her other friends were waiting at their houses for news.

"What time is it?" Isaac asked, still pacing the floor so fast he almost running back and forth.

"Only five minutes past the last damn time you asked me." Avery unintentionally snapped as she closed her eyes and fought back the fresh wave a tears threatening to break free.

With a growl under his breath Isaac repeated, "What the hell are they doing, why is it taking so long?"

"Because they are trying to save her life, Isaac! It's an emergency surgery… we have no idea how long it could take." Avery loudly said back, unable to withstand the pressure of the day and her state of turmoil and utter exhaustion.

"Don't… don't talk to me like that, you have no idea what I'm going through right now." Isaac mumbled as he continued to pace.

"Yes I do. I know exactly what you're going through, but you're not helping anything! All you're doing is pacing the floor and making me want to tear my hair out! So just sit down and shut up!" She hissed at him.

He came to a dead stop as he snapped right back at her, "Don't tell me what to do… we wouldn't even be in this situation if you hadn't taken off when Parrish called you!"

With a gasp, Avery stood up and faced him as she yelled, "So this is all my fault, huh? I thought I was doing the right thing!"

"Well you didn't you screwed up, A." He shot back at her, his werewolf rage starting to get the best of him.

"Me? Isaac, you were right there with her… you were supposed to protect her. This is Teagan… this wasn't supposed to happen, not to her! Why didn't you do something." She screamed, causing a few nurses that walked by to stop and stare at them.

Isaac's eyes glowed yellow as he started at Avery and growled until Paul stood up from his chair and yelled, "Stop it! The both of you."

When both teens turned to face him, he had tears rolling down his cheeks and steadily dripping onto his shirt as he cleared his throat and said, "That is enough. My little girl is back there in surgery, fighting for her life and the last thing she needs is the two people she loves the most at each other throats. She needs all of us, she needs all of our strength to fight this."

Seeing him breaking down all over again, brought a new rush of tears to Avery's eyes as she wrapped her around herself and nodded, sobbing loudly as she cried out, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry." Doubling over in pain she admitted, "It's not your fault, Isaac… you're right I should have been there. I could have done something, anything… jumped in front of that bullet."

"No… I was there, I should have done something. Not been distracted by protecting that pack, I should have just been protecting her. She means more to me than anything else…" His voice cracked and despite his trying to be strong he broke down, his voice cracking and shaking as he said, "I can't do anything right… I love her so much and I couldn't even help her."

Walking up to them, Paul put a hand on each of their shoulders as he said, "What happened isn't either one of your faults. I would die to protect her and I know you both would to, but sometimes that's just not enough." His voice trembled as he choked out, "Sometimes life tests us in the cruelest, most unfair ways possible. But she wouldn't want you out here blaming yourselves."

He could barely see the teens through his watery eyes as he said, "S-she's going to pull through this, she has to pull through this… my little girl has to be okay."

Avery let out another pained cry as she doubled over again, holding onto herself and sobbing.

Isaac angrily smacked the tears away from his red, raw cheeks as he cried, "She's all I have…"

"No." Paul said, trying to keep strong for the teenagers who were breaking down in front of him all over again, but his own voice was so shaky he could barely speak as he assured Isaac, "You've got me too." He said as he pulled the teenager in for a hug, he continued, "And when she wakes up we're all going to be there. All three of us, her family –we're going to be right there." He finished motioning for Avery to join to hug.

That was how the surgeon found the broken hearted trio several minutes later when he walked into the living room.

"Are you here for Teagan Young?" He asked them, his voice soft.

"Yes!" All three of them blurted out as they separated and turned to face him.

"Are you family?" He questioned further as he looked down to the chart in his hand.

"I'm her father." Paul said, impatiently wanting to know the latest news on his daughter's condition.

Nodding the doctor took a deep breath and said, "She's out of surgery… and she's been moved into a private room. There were a few complications during the procedure, she was already several weakened from the blood loss –it was touch and go for a while. But she's stable now, her vitals aren't where we want them yet but they're staying stable for now and that's good."

"Thank god." Avery breathed under her breath, as Isaac rubbed his hands over his face and blew out a relieved, thankful breath. Paul asked, "When can we see her?"

"Is she awake?" Isaac nodded and asked a questioned of his own.

"While her vitals staying strong is a good sign, I'm afraid she's not awake yet and… she's um, she's not responding to stimuli." He quietly broke the news with an empathetic expression.

"Meaning what, she's in a coma?" Avery gasped, her chin quivering worse with every syllable.

"Meaning, we're not sure if she's going to wake up at all. But we're doing everything we can." He explained.

With a hopeless tone Isaac yelled, "No, you can't do this! You can't come out here and say she's okay but that she might never wake up. Get back in there and fix her." He demanded in a trembling, hoarse voice as he felt his entire face heat up from blood rushing to his head.

Paul took in a few deep breaths, trying to find his words but his mouth was so dry he couldn't make a single sound –he felt like the air had been knocked out of him and he couldn't breathe.

"Can we see her? Maybe if we talk to her…" He said, her voice trailing off as he doctor nodded and said, "Of course, but only immediate family is allowed into her room and we normally don't allow more than two family members at once."

Isaac lowered his head in defeat as Avery narrowed her eyes at the doctor and said, "I am her immediately family, thank you very much…she is my sister." The werewolf thought if they were only letting two people back there, he'd be the one who had to sit out in the waiting room and he couldn't take a another moment away from Teagan.

"We're all her immediate family and we're going in together… I know what's best for my daughter and she needs all of us." Paul argued, causing Isaac to raise his head and look at his girlfriend's dad in surprise.

"I'm sorry but the rules say-" The doctor started to apologize, but was cut off as Avery raised her head and said, "I don't give a damn about your rules. We're her family and you either let us all back in there to see her right now or I'm going to slap you with some malpractice lawsuit big enough that your great-grandkids will still be struggling to pay it off."

Walking forward she roughly jabbed a finger into the center of his chest, causing him to back up as she continued, "I'm Avery Dukate… and the rules don't apply to me..." Taking a deep breath she motioned behind her to Paul and Isaac, as she continued, "The rules don't apply to any of us… so take us to Teagan's room now. I won't ask you again."

He stared blankly at them trio before he let out a nervous , low laugh and said, "Okay, I can see this is obviously a very stressful time for all you so I don't see a problem with all of you going in there at once."

"Thank you." Paul gratefully said to the doctor as he stepped forward and rested his hands on Avery's shoulder with a supportive squeeze.

**~()~**

Paul, Avery and Isaac all stood around Teagan's bed, staring down to her unnaturally pale face and the dark skin around her sunk in eyes.

Avery and Isaac had held their silence while Paul softly spoke to his teenage daughter and cried for her and the possibility of losing her. Standing up he wiped his eyes and nodded in thanks as Avery handed him a tissue from the bedside table.

Isaac opened his mouth to say something, as he reached down to grab onto her hand but gasped causing Paul to quickly ask what was wrong.

Seeing the raised dark veins in Isaac's hand, Avery gritted her teeth as she explained, "I'm going to get the doctor… she needs pain medicine."

Paul looked down seeing Isaac's hand as Avery started to walk out of the room he stopped her, "I'll go talk to the doctor… I need, I just –I need a break." He said, his voice cracking as it felt like the air in the room couldn't get any thicker and he couldn't breathe.

Avery nodded and watched with a pained expression as her best friend's dad left.

Once the door was shut she turned around and Isaac said, "A, I know what this does to you and I wouldn't ask if there was another way but… can you get back inside of her head? Is there anything you can do."

Avery walked back over to the bed and watched as tears ran down Isaac's face and he admitted, "I hate myself for even asking this... but this is Teagan and-"

"I know." She nodded in agreement, "Believe me I know and I've been thinking about what to do, but I can't get back inside of her head like when I shut the door. She's already so weak and the added stress of that might do more harm than good."

Isaac nodded, blowing out a painful breath as he cupped the side of his girlfriend's face in his hand and said, "Baby, come on. Please wake up. I can't do this without you… it can't be you and me when it's just –me."

When she didn't respond, he squeezed her hand and sobbed, "This isn't our ending, Teagan… this isn't your ending you have to fight. Without you my life has no color, no purpose, no meaning… you give me everything I need to survive and you can't take that away from me. If I lost you, I'd never be the same… I wouldn't be able to go on… I'd just be existing –not dead but not alive either-" He continued trying to get through to her until Avery gasped and cut him off.

"What?" He asked, looking over at his blonde friend.

"Isaac! Oh my god, you are a genius… that's it! The place between life and death." Avery exclaimed as she walked over to him and raised up, giving him an excited friendly peck on the cheek as she said, "That's it… that's how I'm going to save her."

"I don't understand." He admitted, more tears falling from his devastated blue eyes.

"Teagan… she's not alive and she's not really dead. She's transitioning between this life and the next. I've gotten to her when she was in that place before to help her find the nemeton. If I can get back to that place before she moves on, I can stop her… I can bring her back to you, Isaac." Avery said as she pulled in a deep breath and tried to keep her hope alive.

"What will it do to you?" He quietly questioned, remembering the last time she'd spoke of saving Teagan she'd been convinced she wasn't coming back herself.

"Nothing I haven't been through before." She said as she started to text Derek a list of things she needed him to bring to the hospital for her. "Keep talking… try to get her to wake up, if you can't by the time I get back then I'm doing this." She offered a hopeful smile as she left the room, pulling the door shut behind her to give them some privacy.

**~()~**

"Hey, how is she?" Derek asked; as he found Avery near the vending machines in the hospital.

"Not good." She admitted, then looked down to the bag he was carrying and asked, "Did you bring everything?"

"What is going on?" He asked, opening the bag to show her he had everything she'd texted him about.

Raising up she pulled his face down to hers for a heated kiss as she hungrily moved her lips against his, wanting to feel as close to him as possible in case something went wrong and she wasn't able to find her way back through the darkness.

Curling his free arm around her, he held her against him as he broke their kiss and whispered, "Whatever you're planning on doing, I'm not going to like it… am I?"

"Teagan's lost, Derek… her spirit, her soul –whatever you want to call it isn't in her body anymore she's in bardo, she's between life and death and I'm running out of time to bring her back. I'm running out of time to save her." Avery said, tears falling down her cheeks as she spoke.

His eyebrows lowered in confusion for a moment before he realized, "The only way you can pull her out of that is to put yourself in that state of being… you want to kill yourself?"

"No." she breathed out in pain, "It's not like that…I won't really be dead –just dead enough to get to the place between this life and the next."

"Yeah, I definitely hate this plan." He admitted as he pulled away from her and shook his head, already feeling the pain of the idea of losing her.

"Derek!" She exclaimed, hurt on her face as he turned the other way and put his back to her.

"I know she's your best friend… and I know there is no way of talking you out of this, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. That doesn't mean I can just stand here and watch you kill yourself." He argued with her.

Walking around to the front of him, she faced him and tears ran down her cheeks as she said, "It's so much more than that… when we were kids –I made Teagan a promise that I'd never let anything hurt her, but I let her down and now she's laying in a hospital bed with every machine possible hooked up to her and if I don't do this, I'm going to lose her."

"But if you do this… than I might lose you." He pointed out with a heartbroken, defeated expression on his face.

"I'm doing this with or without your support, but I'm asking you to support me on this… to stay with me because I might need you to pull me back." She quietly admitted, her voice not over a weakened whisper.

Taking a step close he pushed the bag into her hands and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before he whispered back, "I'm sorry, but I can't watch you kill yourself… not after everything."

More tears ran down her cheeks and she made a noise like the air had been knocked out of her as he walked past her –leaving her alone and more broken feeling than before.

**~()~**

Isaac turned his head, watching the door shut. Avery had a plan to save Teagan. The plan sounded simple, she planned to meet Teagan in the white room; a place the two best friends have met up before, but it wasn't going to be easy to get there and there was no guarantee both would make it back, but he had to hope they would. He knew Avery would do all she could to bring Teagan back, he trusted her to do this. All he knew was he needed Teagan to wake up, he needed her to be okay. He just needed her back. He meant what he said earlier, he wouldn't be able to go on without her.

With Teagan heavily on his mind, he turned back to look at her, as she laid motionless in the hospital bed. He felt tears fill his eyes when he saw her hooked up to all the machines; the machines that were keeping her stable. He remembered her telling him once how hard it was when he was in the hospital, back when he was electrocuted in the hospital parking lot. Now he knew exactly what she meant, seeing her like this killed him. This was never what he wanted for her.

He reached up to wipe the tears from his face before he walked closer to the bed, sitting in the chair beside her. He reached out to grab one of her hands, pressing his lips against the back of it and felt a tear drop from his eye, the tear landing on the back of her hand.

He sniffed then lifted his head to look at her pale face. He reached out with his other hand, brushing her hair from her face, getting a closer look at her. He laid his hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, and missing the way she would lean against his hand.

"Teagan..." Isaac softly said. He blew out a breath, before continuing,"I don't know if you really can hear me or not. The doctor said you're in a coma, that you're not responding, but I'm hoping you'll respond to me. You got to come back to me, babe. I need you to come back to me. You always come back, remember?"

He paused for a moment, wishing she would answer, but knew she wouldn't. "You know, when I was laying here, in one of these beds, I remember you telling me that I had different smiles, but did you know, that you have different laughs?" He ran his finger tips across her cheek, then over to her lips, before he continued,"You do and I love every single one of them. Even the one when you snort..." He let out a small chuckle, as he added,"That's actually one of my favorites. Hearing you get so into something, you're laughing so hard and then you let out this cute little snort, which only causes you to laugh harder. You slap a hand over your mouth, trying to keep it in, but you can't. Once you do that, you're gone, you can't stop laughing and I love that, Teagan. I love hearing your laughter. I can never not smile or laugh along with you when I hear it. It's always been that way."

He continued to lightly touch her face, he just couldn't stop touching her and he never wanted to stop. His eyes flickered up to her eyes, as he whispered out,"Open your eyes, babe. I need you to open those eyes. I need you to look at me with those wide doe eyes that always makes my heart skip a beat." He swallowed hard, feeling more tears falling down his face. "From the very first day I laid eyes on you, the very first time we locked eyes, I felt it. That connection, that spark or whatever you want to call it, I felt it, Teagan, and I knew it. I knew that was the start of us, just like I know now this is not our ending."

Isaac leaned forward to press a tender kiss to her forehead, before whispering out,"It's you and me, Teagan. It's always you and me, okay?" He sat back down in the chair, as he stared at her again, before adding,"I won't give up on you, Teagan. I'm going to be right here waiting for you. I've waited on you before, I can do it again, but you have to come back to me, okay? Come back, babe."

Hearing the door open, he turned his head, hoping it was Avery, but was a little disappointed to see it was only a nurse. The older woman walked over to the other side of the bed, looking over everything. When he heard the nurse make a small noise, he asked her what.

"Her vitals were up a little..." She turned her head to look at him, as she added,"Whatever you're saying, it's causing a small reaction. That's good."

"So they're going up?" Isaac asked with a hopeful look.

"They were." The nurse answered. Seeing his face fall, she shot him an apologetic look, as she added,"There was a slight raise, but they are back down again. Whatever you were saying before though, it was helping. Just keep talking to her."

As the nurse turned to walk out, Isaac spoke up and asked,"Is there anything else I can say? Is there-Is there some special words I can say that will make her wake up."

She shot him a small smile, as she shook her head before saying,"Unfortunately there are no perfect words that can be said. You just got to let her know it is safe to wake up. That everything is okay."

"What do you mean?" Isaac asked confused.

"Well, it was a robbery gone wrong, right?" The nurse questioned.

Isaac lowered his eyebrows feeling even more confused, until he remembered that was the cover story that Chris gave the cops. He nodded his head, answering her question.

"I think sometimes when someone is hurt in a violent way like that, maybe they're too scared to wake up. Worried the person is going to come after them again." The nurse explained. "Maybe she's scared." She added, as she looked over at the young girl laying in the bed.

Isaac shook his head, a soft chuckle escaped his lips, as he looked back down at his girlfriend. "It's not possible." He said, getting the nurse's attention. He turned his head to look at her, as he added,"You don't know her. My girl's not scared." He turned back to look at Teagan, lightly touching her face, a proud smile on his face, as he quietly said,"My girl's a badass."

"She also has a lot of reasons to wake up." The nurse stated. She could see how much this young man loves her. She also saw the girl's father and best friend earlier, as well as all the others who dropped by briefly. "If she's as tough as you say she is, she'll wake up."

"She's going to wake up." Isaac said confidently, as he gave her hand a squeeze. "She's going to come back to me." He whispered. "She has to."

**~()~**

Avery stood in the small bathroom connected to Teagan's private room as she changed into a pair of shorts and a thin shirt, before she scattered some mistletoe leaves on the shower floor along with a few other herbs.

Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and reminded herself that she'd done this before and she could do it again. All she needed to do was manipulate the air around her, use enough power to drop the temperature of the water and her internal temperature low enough to send herself into the same state of subconscious that Teagan was in. If she was able to do that, then she could find her best friend and help her back to the land of the living.

Walking over she opened up the window in the bathroom before she walked over to the bag Derek had brought her and she dug around through all of the small pockets as she breathed, "No, no, no! Damn it Derek… where's the necklace."

"Right here." The words hung in the air like a comforting song and calmed her nerves as she looked up to see him in the door way of the room as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the necklace that Avery's mom had given her.

"You came back…" She breathed, with tears in her eyes.

"I never left." He admitted as he walked into the room with her. "I don't want you to do this… but I know I can't change your mind and if I can't stop you –at least I can be your anchor." He said as he placed the necklace into her hand and closed her fingers around it as he faced her and added, "If you still want me too."

Pulling in a shallow breath she nodded and rushed forward, jumping into his arms as he caught her and her bare feet hung inches above the ground. Once he set her back on the floor she pulled his face to hers, as she breathed against his lips, "I love you."

"I love you too." He whispered back as he kissed her and the held her body tightly against him, telling himself that she had to be okay because if she wasn't –he didn't know what he'd do.

"Hey, uh… sorry guys but Avery… if you're going to do this, I think it needs to be soon. Some of her vitals are dropping." Isaac softly said as he stood in the doorway and watched the couple.

When Derek looked over at him, Isaac's gaze dropped to the floor. He knew what Avery was risking to her best friend and he knew exactly how Derek was feeling in that moment.

Looking down to the necklace in her hand, Avery said, "I'm ready… I've got everything I need now."

"What is the necklace going to do?" Derek asked her, stalling for as long as he could.

"My mom once told me it was like a lightning rod… that if I focused I could push my powers through it back into the earth. But today I'm hoping I can use it draw some of that power back." Tears stung her eyes as she looked up at Derek and said, "Because I need to be strong to do this, really strong so that I can come back because I want to… I want to come back to you."

Isaac stepped out of the doorway and back towards his girlfriend's hospital bed to give them some privacy as his eyes rapidly scanned the screens hoping this plan would work and that Avery could find Teagan in time.

After another passionate kiss, Avery stepped back and said, "See you when I wake up."

Derek looked over to the open door and said, "I'm not leaving."

"I know, but you at least need to wait outside of the door."

When he stubbornly shook his head she laid her hands on the sides of his face and in an honest and sympathetic tone she said, "I have to lower my body temperature enough that I'm almost frozen to death… it's painful and if you're in here watching me, you're going to try and stop me."

"Please…" She breathed when he didn't budge.

With a pained looked and glossy eyes of his own, he slowly nodded and kissed her once again before he walked out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him.

Avery stepped into the shower and reached forward and turned on the water to the shower head as she laid down on the shower floor amongst the mistletoe leaves and pinned her eyes shut; drawing energy off the water to freeze it and lower her body temperature.

Gasping in pain she clutched onto her mother's necklace and tears ran from the corners of her eyes, mixing in with the water as she made a pained noise and commanded herself to focus.

As the room and the water got colder and colder, her body started to twitch and jump involuntarily from the agonizing pain; she could feel the water droplets on her face, starting to freeze to her flesh.

But she didn't shy away from the pain, she embraced and it pushed harder than she thought she could knowing that her best friend needed her and she was the only one who could save her. Clutching onto the necklace even tighter she let out a pained cry and could feel herself starting to drift away.

Weakly her eyes fluttered shut as she as she saw the water was turning to ice and snow and there was a deafening silence in the air, the dark stillness of death was back and the last thing she was aware of the sound of Derek's voice as he pushed his way into the bathroom unable to take the sound of her pained cries through the closed door for even a second longer.

He stood in shock next to the shower as he saw her pale skin and blue lips, her hair was stiff and covered with traces of snow and ice. Calling our her name, he started to pull her from the ice cold shower but stopped with Isaac rushed into the room and reminded him that he couldn't. Avery was just as far gone as Teagan now and all they do was hope and pray that both girls could make it back to their bodies.

Isaac walked back into Teagan's room, sitting down on the bed beside her and gently holding onto her motionless body, he looked over to the open door of the bathroom to see Derek was now sitting in the ice cold water stream with Avery, holding his girlfriend's body in his arms.

Closing his eyes and looking away, Isaac then looked back to Teagan's face as he whispered that he was right there with her and he wasn't going to leave. He'd be the first thing she saw when she woke up, because she had to wake up. He couldn't lose her.

**~()~**

"Isaac..." Teagan breathed out, as she faintly heard him talking to her. She wanted to open her eyes, she wanted to see him, she wanted him to hold her, she wanted to be with him, but she just felt so tired. She felt like she had no energy at all.

When she heard him pleading with her to come back to him and whisper out 'it's you and me', she let out a small groan, willing herself to wake up. She felt her eyes flutter open, then quickly snapped them shut when the bright white light hit them.

"Teagan... Wake up..." A whispery voice said.

Teagan blew out a breath, gaining strength, then opened her eyes again. With a groan, she slowly sat up, then felt her heart began to race when she realized where she was. It wasn't where she hoped to be, it wasn't a hospital room with Isaac by her side like she assumed. It was a white room, the white room she, Stiles and Scott went to once to save their parents.

"No. Please, no." She breathed out, as tears filled her eyes.

"It's okay, Sweet girl. It's going to be okay." A familiar voice said from behind her. The voice that use to give her comfort, but now made her skin crawl.

"No. Not again." Teagan cried out, as she quickly stood up then spun around, seeing her mother standing behind her. She held up her hands, as she yelled out,"Stay away from me."

"I'm not here to hurt you, Teagan." Lisa said with a pained look. She hated seeing her daughter looking so scared of her, but she understood why.

"What did you do?" Teagan accused. "What did you do to me? Send me back!" Her voice went out, as tears fell down her face and she squeaked out,"Please send me back."

"I can't." Lisa said with a small shake of the head. "I wish I could, but I can't. I didn't do this, Sweet girl."

"Yes you do! This-This is just another one of your tricks." Teagan snapped. "Some how you came back and you're screwing with me again. You're screwing with me." She cried out, as she dropped to her knees with a sob.

"Teagan..." Lisa softly said, as she kneeled down in front of her. She lightly grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at her, as she said,"I'm so sorry, baby girl. I never wanted this to happen to you. But that's not all I am apologizing about." She wiped the tears from her daughter's face, as she continued,"I'm sorry for everything. For the hell I put you though. All I wanted was to protect you, to keep this from happening, but the longer I was on the other side of that door, the more I lost myself." She gave a sad shrug, as she quietly added,"I guess that is what people mean by a vengeful spirit."

"But if this isn't you, then..." Teagan began to say. She shook her head, as she questioned,"You said you never wanted this to happen to me. What happened to me?"

"You know what happened, Teagan."

"No..." Teagan whimpered out, as she squeezed her eyes shut, wishing it wasn't true. She opened her eyes, staring at her mother, as she whispered out,"I don't want to die, Mom."

"I know you don't want to, and I don't want you to either. All I wanted was a good, long life for you. That was my wish for you, Teagan." Lisa said, as she took Teagan's face in her hands. "All your father and I wanted was the most beautiful life for our beautiful daughter." She sniffed, feeling tears fall down her face, as she whispered,"But your time is up, Sweet girl."

"No, no, please, mom. I need time... I need more time." Teagan cried. "D-Dad, I can't leave dad alone. He has already lost you, he can't lose me too... And Isaac, he-he... I can't leave him, mom. I love him so much, I can't... I can't live without him. I can't leave them or-or Avery either. Mom, you know Avery, you know she'll never recover from this. Mom please-"

"It's not up to me, Teagan. I can't take your life and I can't give you more time. I'm just here to lead you to the other side." Lisa pointed out. "You can't stay here, Teagan, you have to move on."

"I can't-I can't move on. I don't want to die. I can't die I'm only seventeen." Teagan cried out.

"So was Allison." Lisa stated, causing Teagan to raised her head and look at her. "But she's at peace now and you can be too."

"I-I can see Allison?" Teagan questioned.

Lisa nodded her head, as she said,"She's waiting for you." She stood up, holding out her hand for Teagan to take, as she added,"You two can catch up, and so can we. I've missed you so much, Sweet girl. I have so much to apologize for, but I also have so much to tell you."

Teagan hesitated for a moment then finally reached up to lay her hand in her mother's hand. She felt her pull her from the floor, the two stood face to face for a moment, before Lisa spoke up and said,"Come on. We need to leave."

Teagan swallowed hard, she still didn't want to go. She didn't want to die, but knew there was no stopping this. Lorraine warned her and she has felt the chill deep in her bones for so long. She knew this was going to happen and knew she couldn't stop it, no one could.

She finally nodded her head, then turned and began to walk with her mother. They had only taken a few steps when she heard someone yell out her name. With a confused look, she turned and saw Avery running toward her, screaming at her to stop.

"A..." Teagan breathed out, wondering why she was there.

"Teagan, we have to go." Lisa said, as she pulled on her hand.

"Wait.. Just wait." Teagan whispered, as she pulled her hand away and began to walk over toward Avery.

Avery slammed into Teagan, wrapping her arms around her and almost knocking the brunette down. She held on to her tight as she blew out a breath, realizing she wasn't too late.

"A, what are you-what are you doing here?" Teagan questioned, as she pulled back to look at her. Her eyes widen as she realized what her best friend did. "You did it again, didn't you? You forced yourself here?"

"I had to." Avery stated. Her eyes flickered over to Lisa, then looked back at Teagan, as she said,"I don't know what she has told you, but you can't listen to her, Teagan. You got to come back with me."

"It's too late, Avery." Lisa pointed out.

"It's not too late!" Avery snapped at the older woman. She looked at Teagan, as she said,"You are not giving up, Teagan. How many times have you yelled at me to fight? To not give up? Well now it is your turn to fight. It is your turn to not give up!"

"I'm feeling stronger, Avery. I know what that means, I know that is not a good thing." Teagan stated, as tears rained down her face.

"I don't care! I'm not letting you die, Teagan! I need you. You are the light to my darkness and I need you, damn it!" Avery yelled out. "And I'm not the other one. Think of your dad... He's already lost your mom.." She began to say, as she nodded over to Lisa, before continuing,"Are you going to make him bury his daughter like he did his wife?"

"And what about Isaac, Teagan? You are his whole world. He won't make it without you! You are his soul mate. It's you and him, remember? You can't leave him alone in the world." Avery pointed out, causing Teagan to cry harder at her words.

She shook her head, as she cried out,"I don't want to die, Avery. I want to be with you and dad... and God, I want to spend every minute of my life with Isaac. I don't want this, I don't!"

"Then come with me." Avery said, as she held out her hand, pleading with Teagan to come back with her. "Let's go home, Teagan. Both of us together."

"Butterfly... Butterfly..." Teagan softly sang, as she placed her hand in Avery's hand.

"Why don't you stay?" Avery sang back, as she squeezed her hand.

Teagan smiled as she stepped forward and wrapped her free arm around Avery's shoulder's, holding her tight. The two friends continued to hold each other until Lisa spoke up, getting their attention.

"You can't go back, Teagan."

"The hell she can't." Avery argued. "You don't get to decided if she lives or not, only she can."

"That's not true." Lisa said back, as she shook her head. "There are consequences for this, Avery, you know that. There are rules, we have to keep the balance. If someone is meant to die-"

"I'm Avery Dukate. Rules don't apply to me." Avery interrupted. "So screw your balance and screw fate! I'm not losing my best friend." She pulled Teagan closer to her, as she whispered out,"Come on, let's go home."

Teagan pulled back from her, as she looked over at her mother, her warning going through her head. She wanted to go back, more than anything, but was scared of what the consequences would be. What if she went back and it made things worst. She felt like she was living on borrowed time before, but if she went back, what would she be living on then?

She knew what she wanted to do, but what was the right thing to do? How do you choose between living and dying?

~()~

Isaac shifted around in the hospital bed, trying to get more comfortable, then pulled Teagan closer to him. Once Avery brought her back, he wanted to be the first thing she saw. He was not letting her go until she woke up and he wasn't leaving the hospital unless they both walked out together. That was a vow he made and one he planned to keep.

He brushed some hair out of her face, then grabbed one of her hands, laying the palm of his hand against hers. He thought about all the times he did that and she would intertwine their fingers together, but this time nothing happened and that thought killed him.

He stared at their hands, willing something to happen, until he heard a noise coming from the bathroom. He turned his head, seeing Avery gasp for breath before jerking awake, her body splashing around in the cold water.

Derek held her close to him, as he quickly stood up to remove her from the water. He stepped out of the tub, then reached out grab a towel from the rack and wrapped it around them both. He ran his hands up and down her arms, trying to warm her up, but he could still hear her teeth chattering from the cold.

"Did-Did it work? Is she back?" Avery stuttered out, her whole body trembling.

She and Derek looked over at Isaac; who was looking back at them. At her questions, Isaac turned his head to look back down at Teagan and felt his heart drop when he saw she was still out of it.

His breathing picked up as he tried to keep from breaking down. He had always tried to have hope, had always tried to believe good would win in the end, but the longer her eyes stayed closed the more he was losing that hope. This was their only shot, this was their only plan and it failed.

He turned his head to look back at Avery and Derek, and knew the look on Avery's face matched his own. They both really thought this plan would work, but now they had to accept the truth, that Teagan was truly gone.

"Damn it, Teagan." Avery's pain filled voice said, before she buried her face in Derek's shirt, her tears soaking his already wet shirt.

Isaac closed his eyes, feeling his heart shatter, as tears fell down his face. He had so many emotions running through him. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream and yell. He wanted to hit something, hurt someone as much as he was hurting, but before he could get too lost in his own grief, something pulled him back.

He softly gasped and looked down at their hands when he saw her hand move, saw her intertwining their fingers together like she had done so many times before.

"Teagan..." He breathed out, feeling her shift around, melting into him. He let out a small breathy chuckle when he heard her whisper out his name before burying her face in his chest, his scent instantly calming her.

"Teagan." He said again, as he kissed the top of her head. He felt fresh tears fill his eyes when she lifted her head to look at him, a soft smile on her face, as she croaked out,"Hi."

"Hi." Isaac whispered back before he pressed his lips against her for a heated kiss. He laid his hand on the back of her head, intertwining his fingers in her hair, as he desperately moved his lips against her.

"You came back. You came back to me." Isaac whispered out, as he moved his hand to hold her face.

"I had to. I couldn't leave you. Whatever happens..." She paused for a moment, hearing her mother's warning. "I had to come back."

Isaac smiled before bringing her back to him to kiss her again. "I love you, Teagan. It's you and me, always." He whispered, his lips inches from hers, as he rubbed his nose against her.

"I love you too." Teagan mumbled out against his lips, before the two began to kiss again.

When he felt her being pulled back from him, he let out a frustrated groan, until he opened his eyes and saw that it was Avery who had pulled her back before throwing her arms around her and hugging her.

"I thought you weren't coming back with me. I thought I lost you." Avery said, as she hugged her tight. She pulled back to look at her best friend, as she warned her,"Don't ever do that to me again."

Teagan gave her a small smile before hugging her again, as she whispered back,"Thank you for coming to get me."

"Always." Avery said back. She ended the hug, as she added,"I've told you I needed you more than you need me. So I'm not letting you go that easy, T."

Teagan gave her another smile, but didn't say anything back. She turned and cuddled into Isaac, at the moment all she wanted was for him to hold her, which he gladly did.

Avery watched them for a moment, she knew Lisa's warning was weighing heavily on her best friend's mind. Being an emissary she knew her job was to keep the balance, but if that meant letting her best friend die, she wouldn't do it. Whatever happened next they would deal with it, but she wasn't saying goodbye to her best friend. She would not bury another friend. She refused to do that.

She felt Derek pull her toward him and she let him. She wrapped her arms around his middle and rested her head on his chest. They all had survived so much and now that the dead-pool was done and she saved Teagan, now it was time to save Derek. She didn't know how they would, but just like she wouldn't give up with Teagan, she wouldn't give up on Derek either, she would find a way to save him no matter what.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- What did you guys all think of the chapter! It was such an emotional chapter for us both to write.**

**Thank you to SmellYourScentForMiles, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Iris RainbowWolf, xxxRena, Exuberance of Youth and the guest who all reviewed the last chapter. ^_^**


	43. A Love That's More Than Love

**Chapter Forty Three – A Love That's More Than Love**

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><p>A few days later, Teagan was finally able to leave the hospital. The doctor wanted to make sure her wound was healing properly and recovering well before they would release her. By the time she was released she was ready to go home, be in her own bed surrounded by her father, Aspen, her friends and Isaac. The latter never left her side, he made a vow that he wouldn't leave the hospital until she did and he kept that word.<p>

But now they both sat side by side in the back seat of her father's car as he drove them home. She was leaned against him, her head on his shoulder while he had his arm around her, holding her against him. Every few minutes he asked her if she was okay, if she was comfortable, if she was sure she was ready to leave the hospital.

"I'm okay." Teagan answered with a giggle, after he asked again for the millionth time if she was okay.

"I just want to make sure you're okay." Isaac stated, as he turned his head to kiss her on top of her head. He lowered his head to whisper in her ear,"I never want to come that close to losing you again."

Teagan lifted her head to look at him, she laid a hand on the side of his face, as she whispered out,"You won't. It's you and me."

"Always." Isaac mouth, as he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

When her father accidentally rode over a pothole, causing her to hiss out in pain, he quickly looked in the rearview mirror to apologize, as Isaac grabbed her hand to draw out the pain.

"I'm sorry, Sweet Tea." Paul said again, as he glanced in the mirror again. "Maybe we should take you back, have the doctor-"

"Not you too." Teagan interrupted. She caught her dad's eyes for a moment, then looked over at Isaac beside her, before she said,"I am okay. The doctor cleared me and going home, being in my own bed is the best thing for me." She looked at both of them again, flashing them a smile as she added,"Besides I have a feeling you two are not going to leave my side, so if I do start feeling too bad you'll know it."

The two laughed, agreeing with her. It was true, both planned to stay by her side until she was completely healed. They would keep a close eye on her and would know in a heartbeat if something wasn't right.

The rest of the car ride was silent as Paul continue to drive down the road, more carefully this time, until he pulled the car into the driveway. He shut off the car, then reached into the passenger seat to grab Teagan's things. The medicine she was given, the overnight bag Avery brought by and all the gifts friends dropped off.

With everything in his hand, he exited the car, then walked to the back door as Isaac stepped out. The younger boy reached out to grabbed Teagan, holding her in his arms, as he carefully pulled her out of the car.

"You got her?" Paul asked, as he walking along beside Isaac, just in case.

"I got her." Isaac stated, as he tightened his hold on her.

"Okay, I'm going to go open the door." Paul offered. He began to walk ahead of them, then turned his head to look at his daughter, as he asked,"Are you okay, Sweet Tea?"

"I'm fine, dad." Teagan said with a small chuckle, as she laid her head against Isaac's shoulder.

Isaac walked up the porch steps and nodded his head at Paul, thanking him for opening the door. The older man nodded back, as he asked,"You sure you got her?"

"I got her." Isaac stated.

"Okay, be careful." Paul said back, as Isaac walked over the threshold. "Careful, careful." He repeated, worried Isaac would accidentally hit her head, leg or something on the door frame.

"I got her." Isaac repeated, letting him know he was paying attention and he wasn't going to hurt her.

Teagan shook her head, a small laugh escaping at how the two were acting. "You two are acting like I'm made of glass or something. I'm not going to shatter." She pointed out.

"No, but you were shot." Isaac said back.

Paul nodded his head in agreement, as he shut the front door and sat all the bags down. "We just don't want to hurt you worst then you are. We need you to get better, Sweet Tea."

"I know." Teagan said. She smiled at them both, as she added,"And I love you two for that."

Isaac kissed the side of her head, then looked over at Paul, as he asked,"Where am I putting her down at?"

"Her room." Paul answered. "The girls finished everything."

"Who finished what?" Teagan asked confused.

"Isaac and Avery wanted to make sure you would be comfortable once you were released." Paul answered, as he walked over to the stairs, with Isaac walking along behind him with Teagan still in his arms. "Avery and Lydia were here just about every day. Kira and Malia helped some too."

Paul opened the bedroom door and walked in. Isaac carried Teagan inside the room and her mouth dropped open when she saw her bedroom. The girls had hung a thin white fabric over her bed, almost like a canopy, with twinkling lights intertwined in the fabric. There were also tons of white and pink roses scattered around the room, giving off a pleasant floral scent in the room.

"I love it." Teagan announced, as Isaac carried her over to the bed, carefully laying her down beside Aspen; who was already sleeping on the comfy bed.

Isaac reached up to touch the fabric over the bed, as he said,"This was my idea. Now you always have a safety bubble."

Teagan smiled at him, as she laid her head back to look at it better. She tilted her head back more, her eyes scanned over the words painted on the wall behind her bed.

"It's you and me, always." She said, reading the words. She looked back over at Isaac, a huge grin on her face at seeing their phase above her bed.

"That was also my idea." Isaac stated. "But Lydia picked out all the flowers."

"And Avery brought these." Paul added, as he held up a jar of herbs. "We're suppose to put them in your drinks and it helps with healing."

"She also sprayed some stuff on your pillows and comforter, some kind of mixture she made up that will help you sleep." Isaac continued.

Teagan buried her face in her pillow, then pulled back, as she said,"Smells good."

"How are you feeling, babe?" Isaac asked her. "Thirsty, hungry? I can go get some chinese."

"We should probably hold off on chinese." Paul spoke up and said. "The doctor suggested we wait another day or so before switching to solid foods. I can make you some soup?"

"It's okay. I'm not that hungry right now." Teagan said. "But I'll take something to drink with some of Avery's herbs."

"I can make some tea?" Paul suggested, as he picked up the jar of herbs again.

"Sounds great." Teagan said with a smile.

Paul smiled back at his daughter before he turned and left the room, leaving the couple alone. Teagan looked up at Isaac, then reached up to grab his arm, as she whispered out,"Come here."

"Are you sure?" Isaac questioned. It's not that he didn't want to lay with her. He just wanted to make sure he wouldn't hurt her.

"Am I sure that I want the boy that I love to hold me?" Teagan questioned. She flashed him a smile, as she said,"There's nothing I want more."

Isaac smiled back, as he laid down beside her, then carefully pulled her toward him, letting her lay her head on his chest. As he kissed the top of her head, she added,"Besides the safety bubble is always better when you're holding me."

"So you like it?" Isaac questioned, referring to the canopy over her bed now.

"I love it." Teagan stated, as she raised her head to look at him. "And I love you." She softly added, as she reached up to run a finger over his bottom lip. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about how close she came to losing it all. How close she came to dying.

"Hey... It's okay." Isaac softly said, knowing what she was thinking. He lightly pressed his lips against her, as he whispered out against her lips,"Stay here with me, okay, babe? Stay in this moment with me. We're both okay."

He laid a hand on the side of her face, cupping her cheek, as he gently moved his lips over hers. He didn't even want to think about how he almost lost her. He told her before that he didn't even fear dying, his worst fear was losing her and as soon as he saw that bullet hit her, he felt his heart drop. His whole world slowed down as he ran to her, catching her as she fell to the floor bleeding. It was even worst knowing there was nothing he could do. He was supposed to protect her and he let her down. He was a werewolf for crying out loud and he couldn't save her.

He rested his forehead against hers, his breathing labored from the kiss and from trying to get control of his emotions. Teagan reached up, resting her hands on either side of his face, as she whispered out the words he spoke earlier,"Stay with me, Isaac. Stay in this moment, okay?" She pulled back to look at him, as she added,"This isn't our ending."

He lowered his head some to press his lips against the inside of her wrist. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, he heard his phone go off, letting him know he had a new text message.

He pulled his phone out from his pocket, seeing who it was, then wrote something back. She asked him who the text was from, but he told her to hold on, as he gently moved her back to the bed, helping her to sit up.

He leaned forward grabbing her laptop from the bed, then opened it up. He pulled up the program he needed, then looked over at her, as he said,"Someone wants to talk to you."

Teagan looked at him with a confused look, as he clicked on something, then she saw Jackson on the computer screen. Teagan smiled as she saw him, then called out a happy greeting.

"Hey." Jackson said back, as he gave her a small wave. "You have no idea how good it is to see you, T. I'm sorry I'm not there, I tried, believe I tried, but-"

"It's okay." Teagan interrupted with a head shake. "It's no big deal. Just a small injury. These things happen sometimes." She added, trying to play it off, not wanting to worry him.

"Small injury? T, you were shot and almost died." Jackson pointed out.

"But, I didn't. I'm okay, Jackson." Teagan said.

"Why the hell were you on a dead-pool anyway?" Jackson questioned.

"I was too close to the truth." Teagan said. "I was having these dreams, these memories, I guess after having the door open in my mind for so long, I'm kind of sensitive to things like that now."

"Either way, the dead-pool is over now." Isaac added, as Jackson nodded his head in understanding.

"That's good to hear, but she still never should have been on it." Jackson pointed out.

"I agree." Isaac said with a nod.

"Wow." Teagan mumbled out, getting their attention. "I just never thought I would see the day that you two actually agree on something."

"When it comes to protecting you, we'll always agree." Jackson said.

"I hate worrying you two so much, but I do like seeing you get along." Teagan said to Jackson, as she leaned against Isaac. All she wanted was the two boys getting along, they were both important to her.

"We both care about you, we can't help but worry." Isaac added. Her friendship with Jackson use to bother him, but he knew they had history. He knew Jackson would always love her and he didn't blame him. She was easy to love. But he knew he was the one she wanted to be with, he knew they were meant to be, and he wasn't as worried anymore.

Jackson nodded his head in agreement, then checked the time, before saying,"I hate to cut this short, but I got to go. I'll call you again soon and I'm still trying to get out there to check on you, but either way, we'll talk soon, okay?"

"Okay." Teagan said. She gave him a smile and a wave, as she said,"Bye, Jackson."

"Bye, T." He said back, before ending the call.

Isaac shut the laptop and sat it aside, then laid back, pulling her toward him. She looked up at him, thanking him for his help with talking to Jackson. He nodded his head, as if to say, you're welcome, before giving her a tender kiss.

She laid her head on his chest, her smile falling, as she thought again about what happened. She loved her life, she had an amazing father, friends, boyfriend, and all it took was one bullet to end it.

After everything she had done, all the good things she done in her life. All the training and it still wasn't enough. Would anything ever be enough? Could she actually survive in this world?

She remembered back when her mother was haunting her. She told her history would repeat itself. That if she stayed in this world it would be the death of her and that almost happened. But with even knowing that she still couldn't walk away. She couldn't abandoned her friends and she couldn't walk away from Isaac no matter what. She just had to hope in the end her mother was wrong. That history wouldn't repeat itself and there would be no consequences from her deciding to go back.

She laid an arm around Isaac, tightening her hold on him and felt him kissing the side of her head before nuzzling his nose against her cheek. All she knew was she didn't want to die. She wanted to spend forever with the curly-headed boy who changed her life with one kiss. That was what she wanted. That was her only wish.

**~()~**

"Hey." Avery said, getting Liam's attention as she stood in his bedroom doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, seeming completely comfortable.

"W-what are you doing here?" He stuttered out, pausing the video game he was playing and dropping the controller to the floor as his face scrunched with confusion ; he continued, "Wait, how'd you even get in here?"

"The front door." She responded nonchalantly with raised eyebrows.

"You just walked into my house?" He exclaimed shocked, knowing his mom and stepdad weren't home to let her in.

"Mhmm." She hummed as she walked farther into his room, looking around as she said, "You wanna tell me what's been going on?"

Standing up and turning in a circle to keep an eye on Avery as she continued to walk around him room looking at everything he questioned, "What are you talking about?"

Stopping she turned and faced him with her arms crossed over her chest.

Avoiding her eyes he questioned, "Is Teagan still doing better?"

Nodding, the blonde assured him, "She's going to be fine."

He nodded sitting down on the foot of his bed and staring down to the floor silently hoping she'd just leave.

"Seriously, Liam… just be honest with me here." She sighed dropping her arms to the sides, "What's been going on with you? I've seen at school and you looked panicked all the time."

"I'm not scared." He argued, "I'm just stressed."

Walking over she sat down beside him as she quietly said, "There's nothing wrong with being scared, you know?"

He looked over at her before he shook his head and repeated, "I'm not scared."

"Is it the assassins that have you spooked? I mean I know they almost burned you alive at the school the night of the bonfire but we stopped them. And now the dead-pool is over, it's stopped and no one else is going to be trying to kill us for money." She explained.

Standing up he walked away from her facing out of his window with his arms crossed over his chest as stubbornly shook his head.

Avery breathed out a small sigh of irritation at his unwillingness to talk to her, which after a bit of thought she figured probably was a result of her threatening his life on several occasions.

"The assassins-" She started to say but he spun around as he angrily yelled, "Would you shut up about the assassins? I know the dead-pool is gone and that's not what I'm scared of!"

Normally if anyone had spoken to her in that tone, she'd have lost it. Got angry right back and told them off, but this time was different. She recognized the look in his eyes –she knew that level of fear he was experiencing.

"Okay." She nodded as she tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled in a deep breath she said, "I'll tell you want it was for me… it was my mom."

"What?" He asked confused.

Avoiding his gaze she explained, "I thought my mom died when I was just a little kid; in fact that's what I believed until earlier this year when she showed up. Only the thing that showed back up wearing my mom's face wasn't her, not really. A lot had happened and she'd changed so much… but long story short she'd turned into a monster. She was killing innocent people to grow her power to take out the alpha pack we've told you about. But you know… even with all of the horrible, unforgivable things she was doing –she was still my mom and somewhere deep inside I know in her own way she thought she was doing the right thing, but she was wrong."

Glancing up and seeing she had his attention she continued, "She was going to kill my friend's parents… even Teagan's dad and that's when I knew that she was too far gone and I had to pick a side… so, to save Scott's mom, Stiles' dad and Teagan's dad, I uh… I had to help the leader of the alpha pack kill her. She wasn't going to stop, she was never going to stop and I did what I had to do to save the people I care about. I'm the type of person who can make those decisions and carry them out for the greater good but I'm not a robot… and I had to lose my mom all over again, knowing now –every single day that I'm part of the reason she's dead."

"So… what happened?" He carefully asked his voice barely over a whisper as he watched the girl that he'd always thought had everything put together, slowly start to fall apart in front of him.

"It started with nightmares, horrible nightmares that felt so real I couldn't tell the difference between what was real and what was in my head. I started seeing her everywhere… I'd catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror or even a car window and it scared the hell out of my because it wasn't my face staring back at me, it was my moms. I knew it wasn't real, logically I knew it was in my head but logic didn't help me when all of that was going on." She explained, her eyes watered as she spoke but no tears fell down her face as she slowly stood up and walked over to his desk, absentmindedly trying to distract herself as she flipped through one of his folders.

"H-how did you deal with that… seeing things what weren't real?" He questioned.

"That was the problem, I didn't deal with it, Liam. I never really dealt with anything that happened to me… I just kept pushing it down and pretending that it wasn't bothering me, that everything was fine but somehow I got the idea in my head that being scared of something made me weak." She said, shooting him a knowing look, before she looked back down to his desk and admitted, "I started doing everything I could to take my mind off of what was happening to me, I could hold it together when I was around other people… but I came undone when I was alone. One day everything just got to be too much and I had a breakdown, everything hit me at once and I couldn't breathe. I was drowning in everything and I was so far gone, that I honestly thought dying was better than having to live even one more day with all of that."

When she raised her head and looked at him she saw the shocked and concerned look on his face, his mouth hung slightly open like he wasn't sure what to say to her or if he should even say anything at all. Finally he pulled in a ragged breath and stuttered out, "Are y-you okay now though?"

"I'm getting there." She said offering a smile before she glanced down to the floor and breathed, "Or at least I think I am."

Clearing her throat she focused her attention back on him as she explained, "The reason I told you all of that is because I know you're holding something in and I get that you don't want to talk to me. You probably hate me for the way I treated you and I don't blame you for that… but it's not just me who's willing to listen. You're part of something really amazing –being in Scott's pack, and all of us have been through hell in one way or another… any one of us will help you."

He stayed silent, avoiding her eyes and she let out a small sigh as she started to leave but he said, "I don't hate you."

Pausing she looked over her shoulder and winked as she joked, "You're a better person than me… cause I kind of hated you."

He let out a low laugh, hoping it was just a joke. But as she reached the door way all of her words sunk in and he knew what she was talking about. He felt like he was drowning too; he wasn't sleeping, he couldn't focus in class and her was terrified all the time. Opening his mouth he admitted, "It's the assassins I'm scared of… it's the berserkers."

Turning around she couldn't hide the shock on her face at the fact he was opening up to her.

"Since that day at the hospital when I was on the roof…" He admitted, pinning his eyes shut when the memories flooded his mind, "I turn the lights off to sleep at night and I can feel it standing over me… I know it's not real, but then I'll hear the clicking of its bone-armor and…" His voice helplessly trailed off.

"And in those moments, it is real." Her words of understanding hung in the air and he finally felt like he could take a breath.

"I thought I was the only one." He admitted, swallowing hard he added, "Something knocks you guys down and you get right back up like… like it doesn't even affect you. I can't do that, I'm not like you."

She glanced around his room before she took a couple steps closer and explained, "I'll let you in on a little secret, Liam. None of us are as put together and as fearless as we seem. The truth is, we're all terrified… for ourselves for each other… of Kate and her berserkers. But you're right, we get knocked down and we jump right back into the ring. We've been fighting for our lives for so long –I think it's just second nature now."

"I know, Teagan said to find something worth fighting for and keep fighting. But how am I supposed to even know what that something is?" He asked, as he hung his head.

With a small shrug Avery said, "I can't tell you what to fight for… you have to figure it out for yourself."

"What is it for you… what makes you keep fighting even when you're afraid?" Liam softly questioned as he sat down on the foot of his bed again and stared at the paused video game on his TV.

"A lot of things…" She quietly answered, "I fight for my friends and I fight for the things that I think are right. I fight every day to hold onto the light and not lose myself in the darkness… I fight for our pack because I believe in Scott as both an alpha and a friend. Liam, there's so many things out there that are worth fighting for."

He nodded, swallowing hard as picked up his game controller and stared at it. Avery lingered in the doorway for a few seconds longer before she turned and left, leaving the freshman alone with his thoughts.

**~(A few days later)~**

"How'd the talk with Liam ?" Derek asked as Avery climbed into the bed after changing clothes for the night.

Laying her head down on the pillow and facing him; she shrugged, "I don't know… he's really lost, I tried to help him but I don't know how much good it will do. I can only offer so much advice –the rest is up to him." She explained with a sigh.

"You've done all you can." Derek assured her.

Avery's face lined with a look of worry as she saw his eyes starting to close but he fought it to stay awake with her. "You're tired, aren't you?" She whispered, her voice barely audible over the pouring blurring the view of the city as it heavily coated the outside of the window they bed was in front of.

Opening his eyes back up he offered a small smile; as he countered, "It's late, aren't you tired?"

"You know what I mean, Derek. You've been sleeping more and more and-" She tried to prove her point but he cut her off as he argued, "It's really late… just get some sleep, you don't need to worry about this tonight."

Leaning over he kissed her and watched as she shot him a look to let him know they were going to talk about this in the morning, before she flipped over onto her side and snuggled back against his body as he scooted closer and draped an arm over her side; holding her against him.

It was only moments later that she could feel his steady breathing on the back of her neck and hear him softly snoring behind her. Looking down to his arm that was draped over her side she reached down, gently trailing her fingers over his skin before she placed her palm against the back of his hand and intertwined their fingers.

Pulling in a deep breath she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down enough to go to sleep, but she couldn't shut her mind off. Teagan was home from the hospital, still healing but getting stronger by the day and with the herbs she'd given her she knew her friend would be recovering in no time at all. The dead-pool was over and the moment things for her friends seemed to be going okay, but not for her and Derek.

While everyone else was probably sleeping peacefully through the storm outside relived the dead-pool was over and they didn't have to worry about assassins any longer; Avery was lying in bed with Derek, wondering how many nights like this she had left with him.

Pinning her eyes shut and holding back tears she snuggled even closer to him, thinking that she had to do something –there had to be some way to save him because she couldn't lose him.

Several minutes later she was almost asleep, when she was startled by the sound of the alarm system Derek had installed in his loft.

Raising her head, she looked over to see the red light on the wall was blinking. A sign that someone was in the building.

Swallowing hard she nudged him and whispered, "Derek!"

"Hmm?" He groggily asked as he started to raise his head but quickly woke up when he heard the alarm.

Quickly throwing the blankets off of them, Avery grabbed the shotgun she kept next to her side of the bed and Derek picked up the handgun he was most practiced on using.

As they met standing by the foot of the bed he whispered, "Did someone get in?"

"I don't think so… I was just starting to fall asleep when the alarm-" Her voiced trailed off as she saw the light coming under the loft door was broken as someone walked by. Silently she nodded in that direction and Derek nodded back –letting her know he saw the same thing.

With their guns in hand, the couple made their way across the loft where Derek stepped up and unlatched the lock on the door. He glanced over making sure Avery was ready, adjusting the gun in her hands she nodded to him and he quickly pulled the door open both of them with their guns at the ready until they realized what they were staring at –a soaking wet Lydia.

The redhead slowly raised her head and they lowered their guns, almost as if she were in a trance and not seeing them she opened her mouth and a powerful scream roared out of her lungs. Derek cringed and Avery dropped her gun and covered her ears as she made a pained noise.

"Lydia!" Avery shrieked as Derek also yelled out for the teen, who finally stopped screaming and looked between them shocked.

Her eyes focused on Avery's terrified expression before hung her head and stared at the floor, she didn't know how she'd gotten there, the last thing she remembered doing was writing an essay for one of her classes. But she knew why she was there, the same reason Derek's name had been the third cypher key –he was dying.

"I… I'm…" She stuttered shaking her head back and forth, "I'm sorry… I don't know what I was doing."

Avery instructed Derek to grab a towel or a blanket as she wrapped an arm around her best friend and let her inside and over to the couch.

Looking over her shoulder and making sure Derek wasn't within earshot, Avery knelt down on the floor and whispered, "Lydia… was that banshee warning for me or Derek?"

The frightened redhead stared back at her and said, "H-he… his name was the third cypher key for a reason."

Tears stung her eyes but she quickly blinked them away as she heard Derek say, "Here."

Turning around and nodding in thanks she took the large bath towel from him and wrapped it around her shivering best friend, Lydia continued to stare down at the floor as she mumbled again, "I'm sorry."

The room was silent, all three of them knowing why Lydia had showed up screaming at their door. They were running out of time –Derek was running out of time. And as much as that scared him, the thing that bothered him more was what his dying would do to Avery.

Seeing his girlfriend staring down to the floor with a pained expression, he started to wrap an arm around her but she stepped away, shooting him an apologetic look as she said, "I'm going to get Lydia back home."

"I'll drive." Derek offered, not liking the way Avery had just pulled away from him.

"No, it's okay. Just go back to sleep, I'll be right back." Avery argued as she pulled on a pair of her boots on and threw a jacket on over her pajamas.

"Avery-" He started to say but she cut him off as she grabbed Lydia's arm and pulled her up and towards the door as she called over her shoulder, "I'll be right back."

Once they were downstairs and in her car with the heat going full blast, Lydia watched her friend pulling out onto the road, driving slowly as she leaned forward fighting to see through the harsh rain.

"I know… I know how much he means to you, I'm sorry." Lydia apologized again, as she stared down to her lap.

"It's not your fault." The blonde answered in a hoarse voice.

"I know it's not my fault… but I just showed up in the middle of the night, screaming at your guys' door. I just don't understand it, I can feel that we're running out of time but I don't know how to fix it." Lydia exclaimed, frustration lacing her every word as she slammed her fists down on her legs and added, "Damn it, this banshee thing has to be good for something. I can't just be good at predicting death… there has to be more to it."

"I don't know anything about it either." Avery sympathized and then looked over at her fearing the answer to her next question but asked it anyways, "Do you have any idea how much time we've got to figure out a way to save him?"

"It doesn't work like that… all I know is that, if there is a way to save him. We need to figure it out now, because we're running out of time."

The rest of the drive was silent until Avery pulled up at Lydia's house and put her car into park, running her hands over her face she breathed, "I can't lose him, Lydia." Sighing she admitted, "I've been trying to find a solution for this… day and night I've been working so hard to figure out what Kate did to him and how to fix him, but I feel like I know even less now than when I first started digging."

"What can we do?" Her friend asked her with a matching concerned expression.

"I think I'm going to talk to Dr. Deaton tomorrow… I don't know what else to do." The blonde admitted to her.

"I'll come with you." She offered without hesitation.

Avery looked over at her and nodded as she weakly whispered, "Thanks." Normally she'd tell her that it was okay –she could do this herself. But she realizing that she couldn't handle everything by herself anymore and the idea of Lydia being there with her was comforting.

**~()~**

After a cup of tea mixed with the herbs Avery left, Teagan took a long nap. Hours later, after she woke up, she realized the sun had went down. At the moment, the only light in her room was the twinkling lights above her head, until she saw someone strike a lighter across the room to light a candle.

She tried to set up, feeling a pain through her stomach where she was shot, causing her to groan, as she laid back against the pillows.

"Hey, are you okay?" Isaac asked, as he sat the lighter down and walked over to the bed, sitting in front of her.

"Yeah, I was just trying to see what you were doing and felt a pain." Teagan admitted with a pained look on her face.

"The doctor said your still going to be sore and in pain some." Isaac stated, as he reached out to grab her hand, squeezing it as he began to take the pain away.

"Isaac..." Teagan breathed out, feeling the pain leaving her body. She appreciated what he was doing, but she never liked for him to take her pain.

"I know you hate it when I do this..." Isaac began to say, as he held on to her hand. He reached up with his other hand, brushing the hair from her face, as he added,"But you were shot and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it." He lightly caressed her face, as he whispered,"Let me do this."

She reached up to lay her hand on his, as he cupped her cheek. She knew what the look on his face meant, causing her to say,"Hey, this isn't your fault, Isaac."

"I was right there, Teagan. I was only steps away from you, I could have beat the bullet. I should have jumped in front of you, knocked you down, or done something." Isaac said. Saying out loud the thoughts that had been running through his mind since it happened. "But by the time I realized what was going on, it was too late. You were hit, you were dying and I couldn't do anything." He added, as tears filled his eyes.

"It's not your fault." Teagan softly said again, as she reached up to wipe the tear from under his eye. "It was meant to happen. Nothing could have stopped it."

"I still refuse to admit you were meant to die." Isaac said, as he shook his head. "It had to be a very unfortunate incident. I don't know what I believe as far as heaven and hell and all of that, especially after some of the things I have seen, but I would hate to believe that out of all the bad in the world, that good doesn't win. I hate to believe there is some higher power whose plan is to take you from me. I don't want to believe that, Teagan."

"I don't want to believe it either, but whatever the plan was, we changed it." She paused for a moment, before quietly admitting,"I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing."

"You're alive and right in front of me. Trust me, it's a good thing." Isaac pointed out. When he saw the look on her face, he knew there was something she had not told him. He lowered his eyebrows, as he asked,"What is it?"

"You remember I told you mom was waiting for me in the white room?" Teagan questioned. Not long after she woke up, the two spend hours talking as he held her close. She told him about Lisa being there, then Avery showing up to bring her back. She even told him some of what her mother said, but not everything.

As Isaac nodded his head, she blew out a breath, before she said,"When I was getting ready to leave with Avery, my mom said something; something I can't stop thinking about."

"What?" Isaac asked, as he grabbed one of her hands, seeing that whatever was said had really bothered her.

"She said I can't come back. That there are consequences for these things." Teagan softly said. "What if by coming back, I made something worst happen? What if I screwed with fate or something?"

"Then we make our own fate." Isaac answered. "And if something does happen, we'll deal with it like we have everything else... Together." He brought their joined hands up to his mouth, kissing the back of her hand, as he added,"It's you and me."

Teagan smiled at his words, then turned her head to look at the same words wrote on her wall. She turned back to look at him, as she whispered out,"Always."

He reached up with his free hand to lay it on the side of her face, smiling when she leaned against his hand. He knew she was worried about her mother's warning, but he meant what he said, whatever happened they would deal with it together. They had already been through so much together, he was confident they could get through anything.

She nodded her head over at the candle he lit earlier, as she asked,"So what were you doing over there?"

"Oh, that." Isaac said, as he turned to look at the burning candle, then turned back to look at her. "I was trying to surprise you. When you woke up I wanted the room to be lit with candles." When he saw her smile, he continued,"Your dad had to go into work for a few hours to get caught up on some work, so I thought you and I could have a date night." He gestured over to the candle, as he added,"The candles were just supposed to set the mood."

"Very romantic." Teagan said with a grin, as she squeezed his hand.

"I try." Isaac said with a wink. He kissed the back of her hand, before standing up. He took a few steps backwards, as he said,"Now I know most dates consist of going out for dinner and movies, that sorta thing, but since we can't go out, I thought we could do dinner and movie in bed."

"Sounds perfect." Teagan said, as she continued to smile at him.

He picked up a stack of dvds, as he added,"I got most of your favorite movies here and..." He began to say, as he picked up a tray from her dresser. He began to walk back toward the bed, as he continued,"I really tried to get your dad to give in on the whole chinese thing, but he still wouldn't budge. I did, however, talk him into this." Without another word, he sat the tray down which held a plate full of pancakes, which was one of her favorite breakfast food.

Teagan softly gasped, as she breathed out,"Pancakes."

"You like?" Isaac questioned.

She looked up from the food, a big smile on her face, as she nodded her head, then said,"I love."

"Good." Isaac said, as he leaned down to press a quick kiss against her lips. He straighten up, then walked back over to the dresser, grabbed a gift bag, as he added,"Oh, also, while you were sleeping, Lydia stopped by and dropped off this."

As he handed her the bag and moved the plate of food aside, she lowered her eyebrows in confusion, wondering what she dropped off.

"Aww." She cooed, as she reached into the bag and pulled out an old throw blanket. It had several colorful colors and it even sparkled in the light. Teagan hugged it close to her, as Isaac asked what it was.

"Lydia's grandmother gave us all a throw blanket one year for christmas." Teagan answered. She looked down at the blanket in question, as she added,"This one was mine." She looked up at Isaac, as she continued,"I haven't seen it in years. I wondered what happened to it. I guess I left it at Lorraine's one weekend and it got packed up with her stuff. Lydia must have found it."

Isaac nodded his head and smiled at seeing how happy she looked. He reached out to grab the bag, planning to move it, then said,"Wait, there is something else in it." He reached into the bag and brought out an old tiara.

Teagan gasped, as she reached out for it, and said,"It's the crown of wellness."

"Is that a real tiara?" Isaac questioned. It didn't look like a cheaply made tiara that little kids would play with. As Teagan nodded her head to answer, he added,"No, wait, better question. Did you really just call it the crown of wellness?"

"Yes, I did." Teagan said with a laugh, as she sat the tiara on top of her head.

"You know I have to ask what that is. I'm too curious not to ask." Isaac said, as he sat the bag aside and sat down in front of her.

"I don't remember how it actually got started, but when we were kids, when one of us were sick, we would wear this tiara and within a day we were feeling better." Teagan explained. She smiled at the memory, then added,"We all thought it was magically somehow. We really thought it helped up feel better so we started calling it the crown of wellness."

When Isaac began to laugh and shake his head, she laughed along with him, as she asked him what was so funny.

"I fell in love with a dork." Isaac said, as he smiled at her lovingly.

"Are you really going to laugh at me 'Greenie the dog'?" Teagan teased. Reminding him of a day in kindergarten when he colored a dog green and named it Greenie. She smiled at him, as she added,"I fell in love with a dork too."

"Good point." Isaac said. "I guess we'll both be dorks then."

"But you're the bigger dork." Teagan joked.

"Says the girl with the crown of wellness on her head." Isaac joked back.

"Do I also need to point out that in first grade you showed up with a cape?" Teagan questioned, as she shot him a look before laughing.

"Hey, that cape was cool!" Isaac stated, as he pointed a finger at her and playfully glared at her.

Teagan threw her head to laugh, a small snort escaping. She placed a hand over her mouth, then laughed again, before laying her hand on her wound and saying,"Ow, that hurts."

Isaac reached out to grab her hand, taking the pain away, as he kept his eyes on her, a grin on his face which caused her to ask what he was smiling about.

"I just missed that." Isaac answered, as he reached up with his other hand to brush her hair aside from her face. "That laugh.. the snort. I missed it all."

"You missed the snort?" Teagan questioned with a chuckle, finding it hard to believe.

"I love the snort. It's my favorite." Isaac pointed out, as he caressed the side of her face. "I love all of your laughs, but that one is my favorite."

Teagan smiled as she reached up to grab his hand, kissing the palm of it, before saying,"And I love all of your smiles." She tilted her head, seeing the smile he was giving her now, seeing all the love he has for her shining through. She ran a finger across his bottom lip, as she whispered out,"But this one is my favorite.

Isaac continued to smile at her as he leaned forward to press his lips against hers for a tender kiss. These were the moments that made everything they went through worth it. These moments with her were the ones he would do anything to hold on to. He would fight anyone or do anything to keep her like this. These moments were all he needed for the rest of his life.

**~()~**

After dropping Lydia off at her house, Avery intended on going right back to the loft but she couldn't. She wanted to spend every minute with Derek because she wasn't sure how many more minutes they'd have to share, but after Lydia showing up and screaming out a warning that his fate was signed, it felt like every last bit of hope had been drained from the loft and she couldn't go back.

Before she was even sure what she was doing, she'd parked her car and was walking to the old, abandoned park that she and Teagan would meet up in as kids. The place she always went to when she needed time to clear her head.

The ice cold rain soaked through her clothes and seemed to even chill her soul, but she barely felt it as she sat down in one of the few swings that still had both chains intact.

And left alone with her thoughts, she had to face the reality that she really might lose Derek. Her Imperium powers were strong, and using enough power she could do things like help Kira jump-start Scott's barely beating heart and she could cross into the in-between and help guide Teagan back. But she couldn't stop someone from dying and she couldn't bring someone back from the dead either.

Tears ran down her face and mixed with the unrelenting rainfall as thunder boomed in the distance and lightening cut across the sky, but even the storm raging around her couldn't compare to what was brewing inside of her.

Raising her head she wiped the water from her eyes and frozen when she saw a figure moving through the rain towards the playground. It was too dark and the rain was falling too fast for her to be able to tell who it was, until they got closer and another crack of lightening illuminated the area.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, having to yell over the sounds of the storm as she stood up and walked towards him.

"I thought you'd be here." Derek explained, as he faced her blinking the cold water out of his eyes as it poured from the sky unforgivingly on the already heartbroken pair.

Thunder boomed in the distance and another bolt of lightning shot across the sky, causing them to both look up for a moment before he said, "Come on, we need to get out of here… the storms getting worse."

"I can't!" She yelled over all of the sounds around them. He started to ask her what she was talking about but didn't get the chance as she shouted, "I can't just go back to the loft and pretend that I'm not terrified of what's happening. I can't just sit there and watch you get weaker and weaker by the day. I just… I can't!"

They both jumped as an earsplitting pop noise sang through air around them and they realized lightening must have struck a tree somewhere in their area.

Shaking his head he grabbed her hand and said, "We can talk about this somewhere else, it's not safe here."

"It's not safe anywhere. Because no matter what we do, no matter how hard we fight we still always lose. I can't lose you… I can't!" She argued, pulling her hand from his grip and moving her rain soaked blonde hair from her face as she stared at him.

"I can't lose you either… I don't want to have to leave you. But Lydia hasn't been wrong about anyone else. I'm going to do everything I can to stay here with you… but if it doesn't work, I need to know-" He started to say as he gave up trying to convince her they needed to leave.

"Don't you dare!" She yelled anger and terror rushing through her veins like the storm raged around them, "Don't you dare say that you need to know that I'm going to be okay, because I won't be. If I lose you than I lose everything."

"Avery…" He said shaking his head back and forth as he took a step closer, but she backed up from him and said, "No, I mean it! It's not just that I love you more than anything… it's the connection we've got and t-the way you look at me. I can't sleep at night unless you're beside me and sometimes the noise and everything in my head doesn't calm down until I see you…"

Pulling in a shaky, loud breath her mouth hung open as she tried to think of something to say. Some way to make him understand exactly how much he meant to her and the only thing she could think of was a line from the Edgar Allen Poe poem that she'd named her cat after. Running her tongue over her lips and drinking in both the moisture from her tears and from the rain she repeated the line to him. "We loved with a love that was more than love…" Shaking her head she breathed out, "I love you with a love that's more than love."

As they stood and faced each other they were only things still in the turbulent weather that continued to rage around them. He stared at her replaying what she'd said over and over and over in his head, a love that was more than love –summed them up completely, he thought. He wished he had something he could say that would make her feel better, but he didn't. If he had control over it he'd never leave her, she meant more to him than life did. More than anyone else had ever mattered to him.

Stepping closer he said, "If it were up to me, I would never leave you. I meant what I said when I told you that you're my everything, because you are. I love you… and that's what I want to keep doing." Pulling in a ragged breath he admitted, "I don't want to die... what I want is you, in every way possible –all of the time. You're my everything."

Reaching out he held onto the sides of her face as the rain picked up speed, every droplet leaving a an unforgiving sting on their flesh but neither of them even flinched from the pain as he leaned down, claiming her lips in a passionate kiss. His hands moved from her face and tangled in her hair as she clutched onto his rain soaked body, both of them now barely aware of the rain or the storm. All they knew was that they had to keep fighting; even though it felt like he had one foot in the grave, he'd fight to stay with her until his last breath.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thanks to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Iris RainbowWolf, xxxRena and Exuberance of Youth for reviewing the last chapter! Thanks so much guys! **


	44. Even God Needs The Devil

**Chapter Forty Four – Even God Needs The Devil**

* * *

><p>The next morning, Isaac woke up with Teagan laying on his chest sound asleep. After talking and watching movies all night the two fell asleep in her bed. He saw another blanket tossed over them and figured her dad came in at some point and covered them up. He had also turned off the tv and taken the tray away that held the dirty dishes after they ate pancakes the night before.<p>

He looked down at the sleeping brunette with a smile before he placed a small kiss on her forehead. Being careful not to wake her or hurt her, he removed her from his chest and laid her down on the bed so he could get up. He went downstairs for a few minutes, seeing her father in the kitchen making breakfast and spoke to him some, before going back upstairs to shower; after he peeked in on Teagan one more time.

After a quick shower, he stepped out then lowered his eyebrows when he heard her moving around. He didn't know what she was doing, but he didn't think she should be out of bed. When he heard her softly hiss out in pain, he quickly threw some clothes on, then left the bathroom, following her scent into the guest room, which was basically his bedroom.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Isaac questioned when he saw her in the closet. He rushed over to her, laying his hands on her side, careful not to hit the wound, then led her over to the bed and made her sit down. "You shouldn't be out of bed, babe. The doctor said you should rest."

Teagan nodded her head, before saying,"Yeah, but he also said I should move around too. He said I shouldn't spend all my time in bed. Moving helps with circulation, breathing and all of that. It's important to-"

"Yeah, well, what does he know. He wasn't shot." Isaac interrupted, as he paced back and forth in front of her. He knew what the doctor said, but all he wanted was for her to rest, to get better. He hated seeing her in pain.

When he heard her chuckle, he came to a stop and looked over at her, asking what she was laughing at.

"So if the doctors say something you agree with, we should listen to him, but if he says something you don't agree with, he doesn't know what he is talking about?" Teagan asked with laugh. Before he can answer, she stood up, slowly, then laid her hands on his shoulders, as she added,"I'm okay, Isaac. I'm healing, I'm here and I'm okay."

"I just worry about you." He softly said, as he laid a hand on the side of her neck, his thumb caressing her cheek.

"I know and I love you for that, but I really am okay." Teagan said back, as she leaned forward to rest her forehead against his. "I'm not going anywhere." She whispered.

Isaac pulled back to smile at her, then gave her a soft kiss, before saying,"Well, will you at least sit down and let me grab whatever you needed from the closet? What were looking for?"

"I was looking for one of your extra jerseys." Teagan stated, as she took a few steps back, but didn't sit down.

"Okay." Isaac said with a nod, as he turned back to look at the closet. He moved a few of his pants and shirts aside, then pulled one of his lacrosse jerseys from the hanger. He turned around to hand it to her, as he asked,"Did you want to sleep in it or something?"

"Well, I can, but I was also thinking I could wear it tonight." She answered. When he gave her a confused look, she added,"For the game. Your first game, remember?"

"I'm not playing in the game." Isaac said, as he shook his head. He had honestly forgot all about it and now that she had reminded him, he could care less about the game now.

"Isaac, it's your first game. You can't miss the first game, you-"

Before she could finish her sentence he pressed his lips against hers, shutting her up with a kiss. Afterwards, he pulled back to look at her and brushed a lock of hair from her face, as he said,"The game is the last thing on my mind. I'm not playing."

"But I don't want you to give up something you love because of me. If you don't want me to go, fine, I guess I'll stay home, but I'm not going to be the reason you don't play. I'm not keeping you from that." Teagan said with a head shake.

"You're not." Isaac stated. "I'm not giving up something I love, I'm holding the only thing I love right now." He pointed out, as he carefully wrapped his arms around her waist. He laid a hand on the side of her face, as he softly said,"This is all that matters. You and me... We're everything, and this is the only place I want to be tonight, with you. Only you."

Teagan smiled at his words then nodded toward the jersey as she asked,"Can I at least wear it today and still support my boy?"

"Of course." Isaac said, as he gave her a sweet kiss.

Teagan stepped back from him, then reached down to grab the bottom of the shirt she was wearing. She carefully lifted it up and removed it with Isaac's help, leaving her in a pair of lounge shorts and a sports bra.

Isaac looked down at the bandage covering up her wound. Even if she was healing and was okay, it still killed him to see it, to know how closely he came to losing her. The wound was actually not far up from the butterfly tattoo on her hip. She got the tattoo to remind herself how strong she was and now in a way, the bullet wound was another way to show how strong she is. How she never stopped fighting to live.

"It looks bad, doesn't it?" Teagan questioned, as she noticed him look at the bandage. She glanced down for a moment, looking at it, then glanced back up to look at him, seeing him shake his head.

"Nothing could make my girl look bad." Isaac stated, as he placed his hands on either side of her face, giving her a tender kiss. "You're still the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life." He added, before giving her a small kiss on the tip of her nose.

"I love you." Teagan said with a smile.

"I love you too." He said back. "Now get dressed and back to bed. Your dad is cooking breakfast and I'll bring you some up."

"But the doctor said-"

"I know." Isaac interrupted with a sigh. He still wasn't sure if he agreed with the doctor, but he probably did know best. "But I don't think he meant you should be up for long or going down stairs to eat." He nodded his head toward the door, as he added,"So your bed, now, please?"

"Okay." Teagan said, as she reached out to grab the jersey, planning to put it on, but before she could, Liam walked into the room, taking them by surprise.

"Oh, uh, sorry. Your, uh, your dad let me in." Liam explained, as the couple turned to look at him. He eyes flickered down at the bandage where she was shot. He knew it was rude to stare but he couldn't look away.

He still couldn't believe she was shot and almost died. The two had become pretty good friends lately and losing her would have been devastating to him. But when he heard Isaac clear his throat, he quickly turned around while Isaac helped Teagan put the jersey on.

"I'm sorry. I did mean- I just never seen something like that before." Liam explained.

"What? Boobs?" Isaac questioned, causing Teagan to shake her head at his question as a small chuckle left her lips.

When she told Liam it was safe to turn around, he shot Isaac a look, as he said,"No, I never- I never saw anyone shot before." He turned his attention to Teagan, as he added,"But I'm glad you're okay."

"Thanks." Teagan said, as she flashed him a smile.

"I can't stay long. I just wanted to check on you, see if there was anything I can do." Liam said. He had asked him mom to stop by for a few minutes on the way to school.

"I'm fine, but thank you, Liam." Teagan said, as Isaac spoke up and said,"Actually can you do something for me?"

"Yeah, sure." Liam said, as he looked over at Isaac.

"Tell Coach I'm not playing tonight." Isaac said.

"Wait, seriously? You're not-You're not playing? It's the first game!" Liam pointed out.

"That's what I said too." Teagan stated, as she carefully sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I know, but, I almost lost you, Teagan." Isaac said, as he looked at her. "Spending time with you is more important than a game."

"You're one of the best players on the team." Liam pointed out.

"But I'm not the only good player." Isaac said back, as he looked over at the younger boy. "Scott's good, so is Kira and Stiles... Sometimes Stiles is good, he's... Well he's decent." He laid a hand on Liam's shoulder, seeing how nervous he was, then adding,"But you're good too, Liam. You can do this, okay? When you get out on that field just block everything else out. Nothing can touch you out there unless you let it."

"Okay." Liam quietly said, as he nodded his head. He was hoping between Isaac's advice and talking to Avery recently that he would stop hallucinating berserkers.

When he heard a horn blow outside, knowing it was his mom, he turned back to the couple, telling them he had to go then quickly left the room. Once he was gone, Isaac turned to face Teagan, seeing a huge grin on her face.

"What has my girl so happy?" Isaac questioned, as he laid a hand on the side of her face.

"You." Teagan answered. She nodded toward the door where Liam just rushed out of, as she added,"You're good with him. Just like I knew you would be."

"He's a good kid." Isaac said back, as he carefully helped her up from the bed. "And maybe I like the practice." He added with a smile, thinking about their future.

"Maybe I like it too." Teagan admitted, as she raised up on her tip toes and brushed her lips against his.

They were still young and still had things to do. Like graduate high school and go to college, but in their life and death world it made them all sit back and think of the future more. With none of them knowing if they are going to make it to the next day or not they wanted to let the ones who were near and dear know exactly how they felt.

Isaac and Teagan knew it was too soon, but that didn't stop them from dreaming. It didn't stop them from wishing for a long and happy future together.

**~()~**

"I knew… I knew this was a bad idea." Lydia sighed under her breath as she and Avery walked into Eichen House together.

When her blonde best friend looked over at her, Lydia shrugged then added, "But I did tell you this was a bad idea."

"Yes, but Deaton said that this Dr. Valack, knows tons about South American mythology… that he might be only one who can help us." Avery reminded her as she pulled a door open and ushered the redhead in.

"Well a lot of good that is going to do if we can't talk to Deaton." Lydia continued to argue; as they made their way up a few flights of stairs.

"He said if we didn't hear from him by now that we needed to come here, that you'd be able to get on the right wavelength and he could hear you." Avery reminded her as they walked down the hallway, looking into open doorways as they went.

Coming to a stop, Lydia grabbed her arm and said, "How do we know that I can? Need I remind you that I have very little experience with banshees."

"It doesn't matter, you haven't been wrong yet, Lydia. I know you can do this and Deaton does too if he didn't he wouldn't have put himself in this situation… you just need to believe in yourself more. Now you said that being a banshee has to mean more than just knowing when someone is close to death, that it has to be good for something. Well… look around, here are and you're going to help Dr. Deaton which is then going to help us save Derek. You're already helping more than you know." Avery said with a smile as she reached down and have her friend's hand a supportive squeeze.

Lydia smiled back and nodded, pulling a deep breath before they continued on their way until the correct room in the hospital wing of the building.

Just as they stepped into the doorway, they hear the doctor say, "Still nothing, I tried to warn him but they never listen. I think we're going to have to move him to the sixth floor."

"No you're not. You're not taking him anywhere." Avery spoke up as she and Lydia stepped into the room in unison.

Turning around the doctor looked between the girls and pointed out, "Well unless you're family, neither of you can make that decision."

"We're close enough." Lydia assured him as they walked in and up to the bed where Deaton was laying unconsciousness.

"Give us a few moments, we need to talk to him." Avery instructed, her tone revealing it was a demand and not a request.

"He's not responding to any stimuli –you can talk to him but there's no way of knowing if he's actually hearing you." The doctor said in a slightly apologetic tone.

Avery opened her mouth to argue, but before she could Lydia thought back to what her friend had told her in the hallway and she said, "Trust me on this… he'll hear me."

Avery down on her bottom lip and shot her friend a proud smile as Lydia continued to argue and told the doctor they just needed a few minutes alone.

**~()~**

Lydia's fingers shook as she dialed Stiles' number and then put her phone on speaker before laying it down on the exam table in the room of the animal clinic she was in with Dr. Deaton and Avery.

Finally Stiles answered his phone, before he could even get his greeting out Lydia blurted, "Scott's been taken."

"Yeah, Scott and Kira… we just don't know where." Stiles agreed.

"Mexico…" Deaton spoke up, "And if you want to save his life that's where you're going too."

"Why would…." Stiles started to ask then his end of the phone went silent.

Nodding as if he could see her Avery said, "Kate."

"Okay… what do we do? What's out plan?" Stiles questioned them over the phone as he looked between Derek and his dad as they stood in the loft.

"We need to get everyone together so we can figure that all out." Avery said.

"Okay." Stiles agreed, "Are you calling Teagan or you want me to?"

Avery was silent as she hung her head and closed her eyes, shaking her head back and forth.

"I hate this to… but you and Teagan are the best fighters we've got and this mission is going to take every single one of us." Lydia sympathized, as she reached over and wrapped an arm around her best friend in a half-hug.

Nodding Avery sighed, "I'll call her… we'll meet tonight and figure out a plan and then we'll head to Mexico tomorrow."

Stiles agreed and Lydia reached over ending the call on her phone but left it out in the middle of the table as she breathed, "Does anyone else feel like this is a bad idea… the last time we went to Mexico didn't end so well."

Raising her head Avery looked at Dr. Deaton and asked, "Did you find anything about what's happening to Derek?"

With a defeated expression he shrugged and reminded her, "I've never seen anything like this before. But something is happening with him…"

"You mean he's dying?" Lydia quietly asked as she kept an arm around her blonde friend.

"It's possible, sadly it seems like that's where all of the signs are pointing… the outcome isn't looking good." He explained, then added, "But there is another possibility…."

"You mean one where I'm not losing the guy I love?" Avery mumbled as she rested her elbows on the table and hung her head in her hands.

"Yes." The word hung in the air, as she looked up and nodded for him to go on.

"There's another option… but it's rare, even though what Kate did to him was intended to kill him –there is a chance he could evolve into something greater." Deaton said.

Lydia and Avery exchanged looks and then Avery asked, "Something greater… like what? An alpha?"

"Not exactly." Deaton answered with a small smile, before he said, "Right now you need to focus on getting Scott and Kira back, when you return from Mexico I'll explain more."

Avery nodded, she knew he was right and her place in Scott's pack was his emissary… it was her job to help the pack and she had a connection with Scott, a need to protect him that she didn't fully understand but she was ready to do what it took to bring him and Kira back home –even if that meant she had to face Kate Argent again.

**~()~**

Later that night, while the game was going on, Teagan and Isaac were laid in her bed with Aspen laid between them, as they watched one of her favorite movies they didn't get to watch the night before.

As the movie ended, Isaac turned it off then turned his head to look at her, as he asked,"What movie should we watch now?"

"We've watched a lot of my favorites so let's watch one of yours." Teagan said, as she hugged up to Aspen, giving him a rub behind his ear.

"Really?" Isaac asked. He smiled when she nodded her head then got up from the bed to walk over to look at the dvds by the tv. He held up the movie 'The Goonies', as he asked,"What about this one? Have you seen it?"

"Actually I have." Teagan answered. "Jackson made us watch it once when we were younger. Then he wanted to go hunting for pirate gold. Avery was, of course, on board with this plan, but me and Lydia were too scared to go." She smiled at the memory, then added,"They got about halfway into the woods until they realized they needed a pirate's map. They walked into the house arguing back and forth cause Jackson thought they should go one way and Avery told him he was wrong and they should go her way. Those two would bump heads often cause they both wanted to be the leader."

"I remember hearing them arguing some when we were younger. Jackson would want to do one thing, but Avery wanted to do something else, in the end you and Lydia would always follow along with Avery." Isaac said, remembering how the girls were when they were younger.

"She was always our leader." Teagan said with a smile. "From as long as I could remember I always trusted her. I knew she would protect me."

"She would do anything for you." Isaac stated, he had seen it more than once, how Avery would risk herself to save Teagan. "So would I." He softly added. Like Avery, he would do anything to keep her safe. He was never going to lose her.

"I know." Teagan said with a smile. "And I would do anything for you and Avery."

"Hopefully it never comes to that." Isaac stated, hoping she would never have to risk anything for them.

While he put the movie in dvd player, Teagan asked him what memories he had with the movie. He started the movie with a smile, then began to walk over to the bed, as he said,"Me and Camden would watch it all the time. We have literally seen it a hundred times. It was one of those movies where no matter what we were doing, if it was on, we would drop everything and watch it."

"Would you watch it under a safety bubble?" Teagan questioned.

"Always." He answered with a smile. He came to a stop by the bed and looked down, seeing that Aspen was still laying in the middle, then said,"Come on, Aspen, don't you think you have had enough?"

The white dog raised his head to look at him, then laid his head back down, wanting more pets from his owner. Teagan looked up at Isaac with a laugh, as she said,"Sorry, babe, he's not moving."

"I think Aspen has been taking cockblock lessons from Avery." Isaac mumbled, as he leaned back against the pillows.

Teagan chuckled at his comment, then gave the dog a kiss on top of his head, before cuddling with him again. The two were quiet for a moment, just watching the movie, until Isaac asked if she wanted some popcorn.

As she nodded her head, he paused the movie then went downstairs to pop some popcorn and grab drinks. He walked into the room, checking him phone, then placed it back in his pocket as he laid back down in the bed.

He started the movie back up then shoved a mouth full of popcorn in his mouth. When he heard Teagan let out a small whimper, he looked over at her, seeing her pouting cause she wanted some popcorn.

"Open up." He said, as he held a piece of popcorn over her head, planning to drop it in her mouth, but instead shoved it in his own mouth with a laugh.

She called out his name then playfully punching his shoulder. He tricked her a few more times, then told her to open her mouth, he was serious this time. He dropped a piece of popcorn, but it missed her mouth and fell on to her pillow. Before either one could pick it up, Aspen reached out and ate it, causing them both to laugh out loud.

After getting plenty of rubs and popcorn, the white dog finally stood up and jumped off the bed, heading out the door and going downstairs. Now that the middle of the bed was clear, Isaac scooted over closer to her, wrapping an arm around her and carefully pulling her toward him, letting her lay her head on his chest.

They continued to watch the movie and ate some popcorn silently until Teagan saw him pull out his cell phone to look at it again, before typing out a text message.

"Who's that?" Teagan asked curious.

"Liam." Isaac answered, as he slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"You two are text buddies now?" Teagan asked with a smile, as she lifted her head to look at him.

"I guess." Isaac said with a shrug. "I think he's still nervous about the game. He also mentioned Scott and Kira aren't there yet."

"Weird." Teagan said. "It's not like Scott or Kira to be late like that."

"They had a date last night, right?" Isaac asked. As Teagan shrugged her shoulders, he added,"I remember before you were shot, Scott asked me some good date spots and I think the date was supposed to be last night."

"Why would he ask you?" Teagan questioned. "You know nothing about dating. You never take me out." She joked.

Isaac laughed at the joke, then kissed the side of her head, as he said,"Sadly that is true. I don't get to take you out as much as I would love to. That's not technically my fault though. I would take you out every single night if I could, but there is always some life or death danger going on."

"I know." Teagan said. She laid a hand on the side of his face, as she said,"It's okay though. These are the moments I love. Just laying here with you."

He lowered his head to kiss the inside of her wrist, he raised his head to look at her, as he said,"We did have a lot of great date nights in Long Beach."

"Yes we did." Teagan said with a smile, remembering their time away.

"As soon as you're better, we're going out." Isaac stated. "I don't know where yet, but we'll get dressed up and I'm taking you somewhere special."

"Isaac, you don't have to-"

"I know." He interrupted. "But I want to and I'm going to do it." He leaned forward to softly kiss her lips, then pulled back, as he said,"Besides, you know what is coming up, right?"

Teagan lowered her eyebrows in confusion, not sure what he was talking about, until it dawned on her. She smiled, as she said,"Our anniversary."

"Mm-hm." Isaac said with a nod. His smile dropped a little, as he said,"Minus the short time we were broken up, we've basically been together for a year."

"It's okay." Teagan softly said, as she leaned up to give him a sweet kiss, knowing he was feeling bad about the time they broke up. "We'll just refer to that as the bad time." She joked trying to cheer him up.

"It was a bad time." Isaac stated. He lightly caressed the side of her face, as he added,"Not being with you was the hardest thing I ever done. There were so many times I wanted to call you and tell you how sorry I was or take you in my arms and beg you to forgive me." He paused for a moment, before confessing,"I almost couldn't walk away from you that night."

"Really?" Teagan asked surprised.

"All I could hear was you begging me not to do it, not to break up, and I remember you saying what we have feels too right to be wrong. I knew exactly what you meant, but I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I had to walk away to protect you, but I only made it across the street before I collapsed against a tree. I could still hear you sobbing where I left you and I wanted to go back to you, but..."

"I know." Teagan softly said when he paused. She could tell talking about that night was hard, it was hard for her as well. It was one of the worst nights of her life. "But that's in the past, Isaac. We're had many great nights since then and we'll have plenty more. Just stay in this moment with me, okay?"

Isaac nodded his head as he lowered his head to capture her lips for a heated kiss. He ran his hand down her good side, slipping his hand under her shirt as he kissed across her jaw and down the side of her neck. He wished he could take things further, but knew she was still healing.

"Don't stop." Teagan moaned, as he pulled his head away from her neck. She didn't care about the sharp pain in her side at the moment, the pain was worth it to be with him in a way they haven't been able be in a while.

Isaac pressed his lips against hers for a gentle kiss, before saying,"I don't want to, trust me, but now is not the time to get carried away. You're still healing and your dad is right downstairs."

He gave her another kiss, grinning against her lips, as he softly said,"But if you can be quiet, there are other things I can do to you."

"I'll be quiet." Teagan whispered.

Isaac smiled, knowing there was no way she would keep that promise. He pressed his lips against her just in case she made a noise as he grabbed on to the lounge shorts she was wearing and pulled them off. He kissed down her chin, the front of her neck, down her chest and to her stomach. As he kissed the inside of her thigh, she grabbed on to the sheet, biting down hard on her lip to keep from moaning out.

Isaac grinned against her skin then grabbed on to the cotton panties she was wearing, but before he could pull them down they heard her cell phone began to ring. He raised his head to look at her, wondering what she wanted to do, keep going or stop.

She reached out to grab her phone, seeing that it was Avery. She looked down at Isaac for a moment, wanting to tell him to ignore it, but she couldn't do it. What if something was wrong? What if there was a big emergency?

"Damn it." Teagan mumbled, as she threw her back with a groan. "We have to stop. I should answer this." She added.

"Let me guess? Avery." Isaac said, as he moved back up the bed and laid down beside her. "Cockblock." He mumbled, after she nodded her head to answer him.

Teagan called out a happy greeting to her friend as she answered the phone, putting it on speaker. Isaac opened his mouth to say something sarcastic, but before he could say a word, Avery cut him off.

"Look, I'm sorry for interrupting whatever freaky stuff you two were doing; which by the way Isaac you shouldn't be doing while my best friend is healing, but this is an emergency."

"What's going on?" Teagan asked with a concern look.

"Kate took Scott and Kira." Avery answered.

"What?" Isaac asked surprised, as Teagan breathed out,"Oh, my God."

"She took them to Mexico." Avery added. "Which means..." She began to say, then blew out a breath, before continuing,"I hate to say this, but-"

"You need me to go." Isaac finished for her, knowing they needed as many people going as possible, especially ones with superhuman powers. He wanted to help, he knew he needed to help, but as he turned his head to look at Teagan, he wondered if he could leave her.

"We need both of you." Avery said with a sigh, hating to involved Teagan in this while she was still healing from being shot.

"Whoa, wait, no." Isaac called out. "Look I'll go if needed, but she can't go, Avery." He added, as he looked over at his girlfriend.

"I know, I hate it too, but-"

"She was shot, Avery!" Isaac interrupted.

"I know, but-"

"And now you want to just throw her in the middle of another fight before she is completely healed." He interrupted again.

"I don't want to do it, Isaac, but we need-"

"No! It's not happening." Isaac stated.

"Hey!" Teagan yelled out, cutting them off before they could argue anymore. "As the person you two are talking about, can I speak and make up my own mind?" Once Avery was quiet over the line and Isaac was watching her silently, she simply said,"I'm going."

"Teagan-" Isaac tried to argue, until she cut him off.

"I know, okay? I know you're worried, but this is Scott and Kira, we're going to need all of us to get them back." Teagan pointed out. "I'm going." She repeated.

"Okay." Avery breathed out. "We're meeting up tonight to plan then leaving first thing in the morning."

The three talked a little longer before ending the call. Isaac blew out an annoyed breath, he didn't like this, none of this, but unfortunately it's what they had to do.

"I guess now we pack." Teagan spoke up and said, as Isaac sat silently beside her.

"You also need to talk to you dad." Isaac added, causing her to blow out a breath. She just hoped it would be easier to talk to him into it then it was Isaac.

**~(The next day)~**

Derek leaned over the edge of the table as his eyes drifted over all of the guns and bullet's he and Avery had spread out as they were getting things ready for to leave for Mexico.

"A little help?" Avery questioned as she slapped the clip into a handgun with her palm and laid it down as she picked up another.

"I still don't like relying on these things." Derek admitted, avoiding her eyes.

"I know you miss your werewolf powers… but right now, you're just going to have to rely on the fire power and me, because I've got you back." She said offering a small smile as she loaded a shotgun.

"It's not about the power." He admitted, glancing down he continued, "It hasn't been about the power for a long time now. It's about not being able to help… I hate feeling helpless."

Picking up a gun she laid it on the table in front of him along with the case of bullets for that style of gun and said, "You're not going to be helpless with this."

He sighed and made no move to help her with any of the weapons.

Her frown grew as she stopped was she was doing and reasoned, "I get it… that's why I started training with Allison, because I was sick of being scared and feeling helpless all of the time. But Derek, being human doesn't make you helpless. It makes everything tougher, sure… but I learned enough that I don't feel helpless anymore."

With a smile he moved over closer to her, as he curled an arm around her waist and held her close, "You're a much better shot than me." He pointed out, before stealing a kiss from her unsuspecting lips.

"I'm a perfect shot." She clarified before pulling his face back to hers.

There was something different in the way he held onto her, different in the way he kissed her –like he was trying to savor and remember every single second because he knew it wasn't going to last.

His forehead rested against hers and she already had an idea of what he was going to say before he ever opened his mouth. His voice was quiet as he breathed out, "Whatever happens, just remember that I love you… more than anything."

Swallowing hard she pulled her face away from his and shook her head back and forth, "Don't start that… don't act like you're not coming back from this."

"Not alive." He admitted, starting the conversation with her that he'd been dreading but he knew was coming.

"You know I wouldn't survive that…" She reminded, her voice in a whisper hoarse with emotion. He stepped closer and she stepped back as she stuttered out, "I…I'm not okay what that."

Reaching out he grabbed onto her hand, pulling her back to him as he silenced her with a kiss. He kept his hands on the sides of her face as he pulled back and said, "I am…"

"No!" she loudly said trying to pull away from him, but he didn't let her as he kept his hold on her and said, "You need to know that… that if something does happen to me, I'm okay with it and you need to let me go."

Her heart thudded away in her chest and she didn't remember the room being as small as it was moments ago. Tears burnt her eyes and she shook her head, "I don't want to hear this." She admitted, her tone helpless as she pulled his hands away from her and walked over to the freshly repaired window that Kate and her berserkers had jumped through to kidnap Scott the night before.

"But I need to say this and you need to hear it because I don't want you trying anything like you did with Teagan." He said as he slowly walked up behind her.

A tear rolled down her cheek and she stubbornly said, "Well too bad, because I would do anything and everything to save you."

"But I don't want you too." He argued, quickly adding in, "I saw how much saving Teagan took out of you and I saw how weak you were the night you used your power to help save Scott. I can't and won't have you put yourself through that for me."

Gently grabbing her arm, he spun her around the look on her face broke his heart, but he meant every word he said to her. "Promise me that if something does happen, you'll let me go."

"You can't ask that of me." She shot back at him, trying but failing to cover her heartbreak with anger.

"Well I am." He softly replied as he tucked her hair behind her ear, before pulling her face back to his for another heated kiss.

She leaned her body against him, hungrily moving her mouth against his –her every movement begging him to stay with her.

Pulling back from the kiss she said, "I'm not promising you that… but I can promise that once we get back from Mexico, I'm meeting back up with Dr. Deaton and we're going to figure something out."

Wrapping her arms around his middle, she rest her head against his chest as he folded his arms around her and she sighed, "We just need to make it back from Mexico."

Nodding he held her even tighter as he looked to the side and surveyed the weapons, "I'm not even sure this is enough firepower to take down one berserker."

"Not even close." Peter said as he walked down the spiral stairs in the loft, each step landing heavy on the metal and echoing through the space. With a laugh he added, "Killing a berserker is next to impossible, it's not just about firepower it's about-"

Avery pulled out of Derek's arms as she turned and face the werewolf, cutting him off she finished, "It's about breaking the animal spirit from the human."

"Someone's been doing their homework." Peter smirked at the blonde teenager who rolled her eyes and looked down to the table, but he could see she didn't carry the same level of hate for him that she'd housed before.

"Yeah, but I still don't know very much." Her voice was laced with defeat.

"The only person we do know with that much knowledge and experience is Argent… and he's not getting back to us." Derek spoke up.

"Well then…" Peter said, straightening his stance in the sun that poured in through the window, "We're going to need help. Like Malia… maybe even Liam. But definitely me."

Derek sighed and Avery shrugged as she looked up and said, "He's right, if we want to bring Scott and Kira back, we're going to need to everyone…"

Peter smirked, an expression which he quickly hid from his nephew as Derek looked up at him.

Turning to her boyfriend, she leaned up giving him a quick kiss before pulling back and patting his chest as she said, "Teagan and Isaac should be at Kira's by now, so I'm going to see if Stiles and Malia need any help at Scott's… you get everything packed up."

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- Thank you all so much for reading! Can you guys believe we're almost done with A New Blue Moon? It's been a heck of a ride and we're so thrilled to have been able to share it with you. We've only got 4 chapters left!**

**Thanks so much to 19irene96, xxxRena, Iris RainbowWolf, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx and SmellYourScentForMiles all for reviewing chapter 43! **


	45. A Rescue Mission

**Chapter Forty Five – A Rescue Mission**

* * *

><p>Avery opened the door walked into Scott's house to find Liam leaned against the table, he stood up when he saw her and said, "Hey Avery."<p>

"Hey… what are you doing here?" She asked, surprised to see him.

Before he could answer, Stiles and Malia entered the room from the stairs and Stiles nodded to her before sighing, "Liam, just go home… you're not coming with us."

"Why not?" The freshman asked as he dropped his arms to the side.

"Because it's a full moon and I don't feel like driving all of the way down to Mexico just to have you rip my throat out." Stiles sighed as he stood next to Malia and the couple looked at the freshman.

Looking around, he pleaded, "Then lock me up… chain me down to the backseat or something…"

"You tore through the last set of chains, remember?" Malia asked him.

Avery opened her mouth to say something but Stiles spoke instead, "We'd have to freeze you in carbonite to get you down there."

Avery laughed and even Malia cracked a smile as Liam innocently asked, "Okay, then where do we get carbonite."

Stiles face twisted with a look of disbelief as he arched a brow and asked, "Seriously… you haven't seen it either?"

"What?" Liam asked with an equally shocked expression.

Stiles rolled his eyes and turned to leave, Malia followed and Avery shot Liam a small smile before she turned to follow them, but he jogged around the group of older teens and blocked their exit.

A look of desperation on his face as he questioned, "What if you locked me in the trunk."

"You know there's going to be berserker there, right? Maybe a lot more than the few that Kate keeps glued to her sides." Avery reasoned with an apologetic expression.

Swallowing hard he nodded, "I know, and I'm okay with that. But Scott's in trouble… serious trouble and I want to help. I know I can do this." He added looking around the room.

"You'd just break out of the trunk." Malia argued with the beta wolf.

"You've been a werewolf all of five minutes, you don't have to do this." Stiles tried to assure him, none of them seeing the proud smile on Avery's lips.

He'd done it, he'd managed to find something worth fighting for –something that he was willing to go against the berserkers for.

"There has to be bigger chains… a bigger trunk, something that can hold me." He kept his argument going.

"Liam, I said no." Stiles answered dismissively.

Avery took them all by surprise, especially Liam, as she argued for him, "He can come with us."

"What?" Malia and Stiles gasped in unison as Liam looked at her and stuttered out, "I can?"

Nodding she said, "Yeah. He wants to help and honestly… we're probably going to need all hands on deck here."

"But he doesn't have control… at all, he'll tear us apart." Stiles argued.

"No he won't." She confidently said, "We can handle him… plus, since Scott's out of commission, I'm the next one in charge… being his emissary and all."

"Does it really work like that?" Malia questioned with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"No." Stiles sighed shaking his head, "It doesn't work like that."

"It does." Avery continued to argue.

"So I'm riding with you?" Liam asked turning to the blonde who laughed and put a hand on his shoulder as she said, "You're growing on me… but that doesn't mean I'm letting you near my car on a full moon."

"Then what are we doing?" Malia questioned, looking down to the pillow in her hand that had Scott's scent on it.

"I have an idea… I think I know a safe way to get him to Mexico." Avery excitedly cheered as she bounced on her feet and shot a wink at Stiles who stared at her still confused.

"Think Stiles… if a prisoner transport van held Jackson then it will hold Liam." She filled him in.

His eyes widened and he looked between her and Liam as he slowly nodded, "You know what… I think you might be right."

"I can smell his fear." Malia leaned over and said to Stiles, but Liam heard her and argued, "I'm not afraid."

"He's lying." Malia nonchalantly pointed out.

"Liam, if you want to back out now's your chance… because once we leave for Mexico there is no turning back." Avery explained, knowing his heart was in the right place and hoping he had the guts to back it up.

"I'm not backing out. I can do this." He assured her, hoping that she still had his side on the matter.

"Alright." Avery nodded, "Then we'll make it happen."

**~()~**

"Turn here." Teagan stated. "Her house is up here on the left." She added, as she gave Isaac directions to Kira's house.

"I can't believe your dad is okay with you going." Isaac said, as he turned on to the road she pointed out.

Before leaving for Kira's house, Teagan finally talked to her dad, telling him about Scott and Kira being taken and they had to go back to Mexico to save them. Isaac had hoped Paul would be against the idea, forcing Teagan to stay home to heal, but he was surprisingly understanding. He would rather she didn't go, but he trusted her and made her promise she would take it easy and to come home safe.

"Me too. I thought he would lock me up in my room and refuse to let me leave the house." Teagan admitted.

"I wish he would have." Isaac quietly said, as he parked the car in front of Kira's house.

He turned the car off, then turned to face her as he said her name to get her attention, but before he could say anything, her phone went off with a new text message.

She pulled the phone out of her purse, seeing it was from Stiles, and said,"It's from Stiles. Malia has a lock on Scott's scent."

"That's good." Isaac said. "Hopefully I can get a lock on Kira's scent, but Teagan, are you sure-"

Before he could finish her phone went off again, causing her to say,"Now he needs us to bring more chains."

"We'll get some, but Teagan-"

"Now what..." Teagan moaned, when her phone went off again. She read the message, then said out loud,"And now apparently they are off to get a prisoner transport van?" She lowered her eyebrows in confusion, as she breathed out,"What? Why?"

"Teagan!" Isaac called out, finally getting her attention.

"What's wrong?" Teagan asked in concern, as she turned to look at him.

"What's wrong?" Isaac asked back. He blew out a breath, as he added,"What's wrong is my girlfriend was shot and is still healing, but she's rushing off to Mexico and her boyfriend is extremely worried about her."

"I know." Teagan said with a sigh, as she reached up to lay a hand on the side of his face. "But your girlfriend is a lot tougher than she looks. She's a badass, remember?"

"She is, but... Are you sure, babe? I mean really sure you are up for this?"

"It's Scott and Kira." Teagan pointed out. "We have to save them."

"I know, but, it's Kate behind it." Isaac said back.

"Yeah and that bitch almost killed my best friend." Teagan stated, getting a little angry, like she always did when she remembered what Kate did to Avery. "I'm going." She added, as she opened the door and stepped out, ending the conversation.

Isaac shook his head with a sigh, as he opened the door and exited the car. He walked up the porch stairs and saw Teagan walk over to a potted plant, picking it up and grabbing the spare key, before walking over to the front door.

"How did you know that was there?" Isaac questioned.

"Kira told me weeks ago where the spare key was." Teagan answered, as she unlocked the door and walked in, relieved that her parents weren't home. She had no idea what she would have said to them if they were there.

"Well, at least we're not breaking and entering, just entering." Isaac pointed out, as he followed her to the stairs.

Teagan softly chuckled, then said,"I pretty much know where all of our friend's parents hide the spare key or either I have a spare key." She turned her head to look at him from over her shoulder, as she added,"Has no one given you keys?"

"I got keys to your house." Isaac pointed out.

"That doesn't count. It's your house too." Teagan said back. She walked into Kira's room, then turned to look at him as she added,"You heard dad when we left. He said for both of us to come back home safe. Our home is your home, Isaac."

Isaac smiled at her words, as he took a step closer to her, wrapping an arm around her waist, being careful of her wound. He cupped her cheek then leaned forward to softly kiss her lips. All he ever wanted was the girl of his dreams in his arms, a home to call his own and a family he could turn to, and now he had all of that. And he would do anything to not lose any of that.

With that thought in mind, he pulled back to look at her, as he softly asked,"Are you really sure about this? I know you can hold your own, I know you're a badass, and I know you want to save Scott and Kira. I want to save them too. But we don't know what we are walking into, I don't want to lose you, Teagan." He lightly touched her face, as he added,"Just a few days ago I almost lost you. You almost died, Teagan, and the thought of going on without you..." He shook his head, as he continued,"I can't do it. I can't live without you."

She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, he interrupted,"And you can't tell me that nothing bad is going to happen. I've noticed you shivering ever since we woke up this morning." He ran his hands up and down her arms, knowing she was feeling the chill now. "And I know what that means."

"Doesn't mean anything bad is going to happen. We make our own fate, remember?" She said, reminding him of what he had said before. "We are all going to Mexico, we're all going to save Scott and Kira, then we are all coming back home. We're not losing anyone again."

"And I'm not losing you again." Isaac stated, as he pulled her closer to him.

"You won't." She promised, as she gave him a sweet kiss. "Now let's find Kira's katana and hopefully something with her scent on it, and go save our friends."

**~()~**

Isaac parked the car in front of the van, then glanced over at Teagan; who was sitting beside him in the passenger seat. The two locked eyes for a moment, saying everything that needed to be said in one look, before opening the car doors and stepping out together to join the others.

"So is anyone going to tell me why we need a prison transport van?" Teagan questioned, as she and Isaac joined their friends.

"I figured it would hold him." Avery stated, as she nodded her head to the van, as Liam stepped out.

"Liam?" Teagan asked surprised to see the younger beta going along on the trip. She took a step closer to him, as she asked,"Are you sure you're ready for this?" It's not that she didn't want him to go, she hated the thought of him alone during a full moon, but they had no idea what they were about to walk into, she wanted to make sure he was safe.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Liam said back. "You were shot."

"That's what I've been saying." Isaac spoke up, as he walked up behind Teagan.

"You're letting her go?" Liam questioned, referring to Teagan as he looked over at Isaac.

Isaac let out a chuckle, as he shook his head and said,"I don't let her do anything." He wrapped his arm around her waist, being careful of the wound on her side. He nodded his head toward her, as he added,"One thing you'll learn about this one. She is stubborn as hell and she does what she wants."

As Teagan raised her head to look at him, he turned his to look at her with a smile on his face. He leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose, as he added,"Which is fine with me cause it's one of the many things I love about her."

Teagan smiled at his words, then turned to look at Liam again, as she asked again,"Are you sure you're ready? I'm not trying to say you can't go. I know how important it is to be involved and wanting to help. I just want to make sure you know what you are stepping into."

"Find something to fight for and never stop, remember?" Liam stated, as he looked over at Isaac, reminding him of when he said that to him.

Isaac nodded his head with a proud smile on his face. It seemed like Liam was finally ready. Isaac could still smell the fear on him, but his face was determined. He wanted to do this, he was ready to do this. He had found something to fight for.

"Right, but Liam, if-"

"He's okay, babe." Isaac said, interrupting his girlfriend. He knew she was worried about the younger boy; like a sister would worry about a young sibling or mother for a child. He laid his hands on her shoulders, as he smiled over at Liam and added,"He's ready."

Teagan looked at him closely, seeing what Isaac meant, then nodded her head with a smile, as she said,"Remember what I've taught you, and let's kick some ass then."

The trio continued to talk a little, until Stiles spoke up to ask Avery a question, getting their attention.

"Hey, A, answer me something. How did you get a prison transport van?"

"I'm Avery Dukate." The blonde stated, in her opinion that was the only explanation they needed. Whatever she wanted, she always got.

"That's your answer to everything." Isaac pointed out.

"That's the only answer you need." Avery said with a smile, as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Avery is a secret wrapped in a mystery." Malia spoke up and said, getting everyone's attention.

"See, Malia gets me." Avery said, as she pointed over to the former coyote.

"After all my time around her, that is what I learned." Malia said with a nod. She turned her attention to the whole group, as she added,"I've learned a lot about all of you."

Before anything else could be said, Derek pulled up beside the van, causing Isaac to say,"Guess we'll have to learn about the world according to Malia another day."

Stiles laid his hands on Malia's shoulders, giving them a squeeze as he flashed her a smile, letting her know she was doing good. She was leaning about them all, meaning she was beginning to let people in, she was beginning to care.

"Are we really bringing him?" Derek questioned referring to Liam, as he stepped out of the car. He softly smiled, as Avery walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He laid his hand on the back of her head, as she raised up on her tip toes to give him a quick kiss.

"Are we really bringing him?" Stiles asked back, as he nodded his head toward Peter; who stepped out of the passenger side.

Isaac pulled Teagan toward him, feeling the hatred coming off of her for the older werewolf, while Liam watched Avery and Derek with wide eyes. Hearing his heart racing, Isaac glanced over at the younger beta, wondering what was scaring him now. Even if things were getting better between him and Avery, after some of his past encounters with her and his one meeting with Derek, he couldn't help but feel intimidated by them.

They made a great looking couple, as they stood there in matching black leather jackets, but he couldn't imagine having both of them in your face at once. Dealing with one at a time was scary enough. At the moment he couldn't decide which would be worst, dealing with them or a berserker.

Peter walked closer to the group, as he said,"We're bringing everyone that we can. And considering Scott and Kira were taken the night before a full moon, we should probably get going."

"What's that mean?" Malia questioned.

"If Kate took Scott back to the same temple that she took Derek, how do we know she's not planning to do the same thing to him?" Peter pointed out.

"What, she wants to make him younger?" Liam asked, confused.

"How would that benefit her though?" Teagan questioned.

"Yeah, Kate doesn't do anything unless it helps her in the long run." Avery pointed out.

"Well she does like young boys." Isaac stated, causing all of them to turn to look at him. He shrugged his shoulders, as he added,"What? It's true."

As they all turned to look at Derek, everyone thinking of when Kate seduced him. He shook his head, then said,"Or she wants to take him back to when he wasn't a werewolf.

"A werewolf can't steal a true Alpha's power." Avery said, remembering reading that in her mom's journals.

"But maybe a Nagual jaguar, with the power of Tezcatlipoca behind her... Maybe she can." Peter argued. "So, if everyone is sufficiently freaked out, I say we get going."

"We can't." Stiles stated. "Lydia's not here yet."

"Where is Lydia?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, one of the things I have learned about Lydia, she is never late." Malia added.

"She had to make a quick stop by the school." Isaac answered, as Stiles stepped off to the side to try to call the red-head.

"What's she doing at the school?" Derek asked confused, as he pulled Avery closer to him when she laid her head against his chest. She closed her eyes for a moment, just listening to his heart beat. It was a sound she could listen to forever; a sound she wanted to listen to forever. It was one of her favorite sounds and it is what kept her going. It's what kept the darkness away.

"We got Kira's sword, but we need something with a stronger scent." Teagan answered. "We searched all through her room, but I guess her mom just recently did laundry cause Isaac couldn't pick up any scent."

Isaac nodded his head to agree, before adding,"So we called Lydia, asked her to stop by the school on her way. She said she remembered seeing one of Kira's jackets in her locker."

They all turned to look at Stiles, as he walked over to them after trying to call Lydia. He shook his head, as he said,"Nothing."

"Maybe we should wait for her." Teagan suggested, hating to leave one of her closest friends behind.

"Did you forget the part where Kate has Scott?" Peter questioned, as he looked over at Teagan, causing Isaac to pull her closer to him, almost if he was trying to protect her from anything Peter might do or anything else he might say.

"Trust me, I can never forget anything Kate Argent has done." Teagan spat back.

"Then you know why we have to hurry." Peter pointed out, just needed to get his plan rolling.

"He's right, we need to go." Avery spoke up, causing Teagan to lower her eyebrows in confusion at hearing her best friend agreeing with anything Peter Hale had to say.

"No." Stiles argued. "What if something happened? What if she's in trouble?"

Teagan nodded her head in agreement, then glanced over at Isaac, as she softly said,"Maybe we should go look for her."

Hearing what the brunette said, Peter spoke up and said,"Fine. You stay, you find her. We're gonna go on without you."

"I could call Mason." Liam spoke up, getting everyone's attention. He could feel all the different emotions in the air, the tension was thick and he just wanted to help solve this problem. "He has a study group at school. Maybe he could look for her."

Teagan looked over at the young beta, letting out a sigh as she nodded her head at the idea; while Stiles spoke up and said,"Alright. Fine."

"Call him." Avery stated, as she looked over at Liam. She was just as worried about Lydia as the others, like the others she needed to know the red-head was okay.

While Liam walked off to call Mason, Avery grabbed Derek's hand, giving it a squeeze. With the way she acted, some people would probably assume nothing bothered her, that nothing could scare her, but nothing was further from the truth. Nothing terrified her more than the possibility of losing someone she loves.

Teagan watched Liam for a moment, then turned to look at Isaac with a worried look on her face. She closed her eyes for a moment as he kissed the side of her head before pulling her toward him. She wrapped her arms around his middle, resting her head against his chest as she blew out a breath, his scent calming her.

None of them knew what they were going up against, but they all had something to fight for; rather it was love, friendship, revenge or what. They all had their reasons and none of them were giving up.

**~()~**

After Liam hung up his phone from calling Mason to have him check on Lydia, he turned to the rest of the group and said, "He's going to call back as soon as he finds her."

"You mean _if_." Teagan clarified as the air took on an unnatural chill and Isaac pulled her against his side. The group fell silent for a moment, none of them wanting to leave their friend behind but also knowing that if they left for Mexico with the group being another member short –the trip would be a suicide mission.

"We need to get going." Peter called out as he grabbed his jacket out of the passenger seat of Derek's car and pulled it on.

The group slowly nodded and Stiles looked over at Teagan and asked, "You brought the extra chains right?"

She nodded and handed Isaac the keys to her car, he let out a small laugh and said, "Yeah, we got the chains… also got a couple of funny stares at the hardware store."

Once everything was loaded into the prisoner transport van, Avery said, "I'm leaving my car here where it's safe." When Liam looked over at her she shrugged and said, "What? I don't want it getting caught in any crossfire… everyone else's care is replaceable."

"I can move the weapons bags around in the backseat." Teagan offered with a smile, Avery nodded in thanks as she said, "I have some weapons to add to it."

"I… I've been thinking and I don't want you want you riding with, Peter." Stiles said as he gently grabbed onto Malia's arm and spoke in a quiet tone –but everyone could hear him.

Shrugging she said, "I don't want to ride with him either… but he is my father, maybe we can do some bonding."

"No… nope, no bonding." Stiles argued, nodding her head in agreement Teagan said, "Not even a little."

Taking a deep breath Isaac pointed out, "Maybe she should be in the back of the van... I mean neither one of you have werewolf strength." He said motioning between Stiles and Derek before continuing, "And I'm not leaving Teagan's side."

Nodding Avery said, "Yeah, we're hoping Liam can get himself under control… but if he can't, you're going to need her strength."

Snapping with his hand as he pointed at Avery, Stiles excitedly said, "Yes! Yes! Good point."

"It was actually my point." Isaac chimed in raising his hand and causing Teagan to smile as she buried her face against his side and held in a laugh.

Stiles looked over at the beta with slightly squinted eyes as he breathed, "Always with the not helping… seriously why is he even coming along."

"Maybe because I can do this." Isaac smugly responded as he flipped his wrist and displayed his hand with his razor edged claws. Stiles' eyes widened and he stuttered out, "Good point."

As Isaac grabbed the bag of weapons from Avery's car and tried to figure out how to fit everything in Teagan's backseat to make room for Avery, Peter looked around overhearing the teens conversation he knew Malia was no longer riding with him.

"Aww." He pouted, surveying the group as he continued to complain, "No one's going to ride with me?"

"That's right." Stiles snapped at him.

"It's going to be a long, lonely drive all the way to Mexico." He continued, his gaze falling on one teenager in-particular. Seeing he was watching her Avery rolled her eyes and snarkily responded, "Just talk to yourself… we all know how you love the sound of your own voice."

A low rumble of laughter went through the teens and Derek stared to lead Liam to the van to get him chained up, until Peter motioned to Derek's car that he would be driving on the trip and asked, "Avery, care to join me?"

Derek spun around expecting Avery to protest, which is exactly what she intended on doing until she paused to run the idea through her head. Someone needed to keep an eye on Peter, make sure he was really on their side after all.

"Fine." She agreed, starting to talk towards him, until almost every in their group protested her decision.

"I don't like this plan any better." Stiles admitted, as Teagan flat out shook her head and loudly said, "No."

"Guys-" Avery started to argue, but Derek shook his head, "No way, you can ride up front with Stiles or in the back with us." He continued motioning between himself and Liam as Malia walked over to them.

"I'm trying to make room in the car." Isaac yelled over his shoulder, as he shoved his overnight bag of clothes into the back floorboard; he didn't want his friend riding with Peter either.

"No, I'm going to ride with him." She argued motioning to Peter as she explained to the group, "Someone needs to make sure that he's really on our side here, it's just a several hour car ride. I think I'll survive."

"Of course I'm on your side." Peter argued, then sighed heavily, "When are you going to trust me?"

"Never." Isaac said with a smirk.

"I am here, risking my life to help bring your friends back. Doesn't that warrant an ounce of trust?" He argued with the younger wolf.

Teagan shook her head added in, "You went on a killing spree, Peter. We're never going to trust you."

Peter surveyed the group again before he pointed out, "I was trying to avenge my family's murders. I don't think you can really blame me for that." Shooting a smug look at the blonde teen he continued, "Right, Avery?"

Sighing heavily she crossed her arms over her chest, she still couldn't stand him. But after knowing that her mom was responsible for locking Peter inside his own to be tormented for years she couldn't carry the same animosity towards him that her friends did. And as much as she hated to admit it, she could understand why he'd done some of the terrible things he'd done.

Not to mention he seemed to the only one as hell bent on killing Kate as she was.

"What is he talking about?" Derek pushed, and Teagan nodded her head. She'd never gotten the full story out of Avery about what happened at the police station when Meredith wanted to talk to her.

"Who knows." She sighed heavily rolling her eyes, "We need to go."

"I don't like this." Derek admitted, watching his girlfriend closely and wondering what she'd been hiding.

Liam awkwardly looked around, not understanding the gravity of the situation. Clearing his throat he said, "Maybe we should just go… I mean, no one else wants to ride him."

"That's because no one likes him." Isaac sighed.

When Teagan started to protest and argue further he rubbed his hands up and down her arms to calm her down as he said, "I hate this idea too, but she's got a point. We can't trust him… someone does need to keep an eye on him."

"I'm standing right here, werewolf hearing perfectly intact." He pointed out as the group continued to talk about him like he wasn't even there.

"Fine!" Stiles groaned rolling his eyes and showing with his movements how much he was against the idea, "Play the radio or something… very loud."

Glancing down to the floor, Peter hid one of his signature smirks before looking back up to Derek and the teenagers as he said, "Remember what we're dealing with here. This isn't just Kate… it's berserkers –you might see human eyes behind those skulls, but do not assume that there is any humanity left."

Liam swallowed hard and looked down as he thought of how he'd have to face off with his worst nightmare again.

The older wolf's gaze fell to the freshman as he said, "This little one is terrified of them, aren't you?" He asked feeling the fear radiate off the young teen.

Liam gave a small shrug and tried to avoid his friend's stares as they all looked at him.

Crossing her arms over her chest Avery shot Peter a look as she defended with a Wizard of Oz reference, "Well guess what cowardly lion… this little one has something you don't; courage."

Teagan lowered her head and laughed as she thought out loud, "He could be the tin-man as well; clearly he's lacking a heart."

"Relax." Peter said with an amused chuckle, "I was simply going to point out that he needn't worry, it's that fear that will keep him alive."

"A reminder to everyone; you do not fight berserkers to survive… you fight to kill." Peter continued his speech. Causing Avery to look over at her brunette best friend and say with raised eyebrows, "Well, at least we know he's not the scarecrow… he's got a brain."

The best friends laughed to themselves and Isaac breathed, "What is it with you two and the Wizard of Oz references today."

Teagan shrugged and everyone started to go their separate ways, but Derek grabbed Avery's arm and pulled her out of view around the side of the van,

"I know you think you should keep an eye on him, but I really don't like this." He quietly said. They could both hear chains clinking from where Stiles and Isaac were chaining Liam up.

"Well, it's not like I'm overjoyed to be riding with him… but I can handle Peter, he doesn't scare me." She softly said back.

"And that scares me." Derek admitted, his eyes searching her face as he questioned, "What's going on with the two of you?"

"Nothing." She defended, then sighed an admission, "I just found some things out and I don't know… I just feel like I kind of understand him."

"No, you don't. Only someone as screwed up as Peter could even begin to understand him." He said as he glanced around them and missed the pained look in her eyes at his words.

Looking down to the floor between them she considered Derek had a point, only it wasn't the point he thought he was proving. She frowned, feeling like she must be just as screwed up as Peter if she could understand him the way she did –with that thought she looked up at Derek, wondering if he'd still loved her when he realized that for himself.

As he turned back to her he said, "We don't need that many cars… you and Peter can just ride up front in the van with Stiles."

"No, it's okay. I should just ride with him." She spoke in a soft, almost defeated tone as she considered apparently the car with Peter was going to be least judgmental of her current choices.

"What-" Derek started to ask, but Avery cut him off with a kiss as she leaned up and pressed a passionate kiss to his lips. Her hands clutching onto him as she leaned her body against his and silence any argument he had.

"It doesn't matter." She breathed as she pulled back slightly. She played with his hair while he held onto the sides of her face and watched her intently, "All we need to do is bring everyone back safe from Mexico and get you fixed up."

He nodded, but inside he still felt like he wasn't going to make it back –not alive at least.

"Just be careful." He warned, knowing his uncle's tendency to get inside of other people's heads.

"And why is that?" She asked, with a small knowing smile.

"You know why." He replied, kissing her again before his lips brushed against hers and he added, "You know exactly why."

"Really?" She asked, with feigned confusion, her eyes searched his face as she spoke, "I think you may need to remind me."

He let out a small, but almost sad laugh as he continued to stare at her and confessed, "Because I love you, Avery." She leaned into his touch as he trailed a hand down the side of her face and repeated in a low whisper, "Because I love you."

Tears burnt her eyes at his words and she felt like he was saying goodbye, they still had a long road trip to Mexico, and a night of fighting to get their friends back but she felt like everything they were saying in that moment was final –like it might be the last chance she got to be honest with him.

Thinking back to the night they were caught out in the rainstorm, her eyes roamed over his face and she said, "I love you too, Derek." Leaning up she kissed him again before pulling back and wrapped her arms around him and snuggling against his muscular frame as she whispered, "I love you with a love that is more than love."

He somberly smiled; leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of her head as he held her tightly to him, both of them standing in complete silence and not wanting to let go of the other.

"While this is all very touching… we're losing daylight." Peter said to them, causing Avery to groan as she dropped her forehead gently against Derek's chest and wondered how long he'd been watching them.

With regret and sadness in her every movement, Avery gave Derek another kiss before she followed Peter to the car, pausing and shooting him a strange look as he opened the door for her.

Not wanting to argue or spend any other time questioning what he was doing, she got into the car and let him shut the door behind her. Tucking her hair behind her ears, Avery raised her head as Peter walked around the car to get into the driver's seat and she saw Derek standing at the back of the prisoner van watching her. They exchanged small smiles, with a sense of longing before he got into the back of the van and Peter started the car he and Avery were in

**~()~**

Teagan glanced down at her phone, seeing the time, then glanced up at the full moon lost in thought. There was so much she was worried about. She was worried about Scott and Kira, she was worried about what Kate had planned, she was worried about what all of them were walking into. She was even worried about Avery riding along with Peter.

With her blonde friend on her mind, she looked back down at her phone, sending her a quick text. Once she was done, she turned her head to look at Isaac, after hearing him quietly talking to himself.

She saw him squeezing the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white. She opened her mouth to ask him if he was okay, but just as quick as it started, she saw him loosen his grip and release a breath.

She softly smiled, as she saw him whispering to himself again and realized what he was saying. It was his mantra to calm himself down during a full moon, their mantra to get them through anything,'it's you and me'.

She reached out to grab one of his hands, flashing him a smile, as he looked over at her. "Are you okay?" She questioned.

"Yeah." He breathed out, as he lifted her hand up, giving the back of her hand a kiss. "I'm fine. Just the full moon, you know?"

"Do you need me to drive?" Teagan offered.

"No,it's fine. I got it under control." Isaac said. He gave her hand a squeeze, then glanced over at her for a moment, before looking back at the road and asked,"How are you? You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine." Teagan mumbled, as she ran her free hand through her hair with a sigh.

Isaac glanced over at her for a moment, knowing she wasn't being completely honest. He could feel the anxiety rolling off of her. Wanting to help calm her down, he pulled on her hand a little, getting her attention, as he softly said,"Hey, you know what this reminds me of?"

"Hmm?" Teagan questioned, as she laid her head back against the head rest then turned her head to look at him.

"Long Beach." He answered, as he flashed her a smile before looking back at the road. "Remember after we dropped Avery off at the center? It was already dark and the moon was out. We were both so tired, but we still had to find our hotel."

"Oh, my God. I thought we were never going to find it." Teagan said with a chuckle. "We took that wrong turn and got so lost. I honestly thought we were going to have to sleep in this car."

"You did fall asleep in the car." Isaac pointed out, reminding her of when she fell asleep while he drove them further and further away from where they were suppose to be.

"I was so tired." Teagan said with a laugh. "I was trying to stay awake. I remember you kept telling me to hang on a little longer, we will be there soon, but I just can't do it."

"Stay with me, babe, just stay with me a little longer." Isaac whispered out, saying the same words he told her then. He looked over at her with a smile, seeing a smile on her face, as she remembered his words then.

He looked back at the road, as he added,"You know, I found out something pretty interesting about you that day."

"What?" Teagan asked, as she lowered her eyebrows, wondering what he was going to say.

Isaac looked over at her for a moment, a smile on his face, as he said,"You suck at reading maps."

"I do not!" Teagan called out, as she playfully punched his shoulder. "You suck at following directions."

"You said take a right and that is what I did." Isaac said with a laugh. It was the same playful argument they had that day when they got lost.

"I meant the next right." Teagan said back, as she laughed along with him.

Isaac chuckled again, then looked over at her, as he questioned,"You remember what happened after you woke up?"

Teagan nodded her head, a dreamy smile on her face, as she whispered,"We were at the beach. Somehow we ending up at some private little beach. There was no one there, it was in the middle of nowhere, it was like our own personal paradise."

"You were still half asleep, but we had to take advantage of the moment. It was too perfect to pass up." Isaac said, a similar smile on his face. "We sat on that beach for hours, watching the sunrise and with you in my arms. It was one of my favorite days, one of my favorite moments with you."

"It's one of mine too." Teagan said, as she turned her head to look at him, feeling a lot calmer than before.

He brought her hand up again, kissing the back of it, before he said,"Just like that day, we didn't know where we were going to end up or what was going to happen, but we ended the day together, and that is how we are going to end every day, Teagan. Together." He flashed her a smile, before adding,"Our life isn't about where we are going... It's not the distance, it's the memories. That's our life, babe, that's our fate."

Teagan smiled at his words and squeezed his hand before whispering out,"It's you and me."

"It's you and me." Isaac said back, as he smiled over at her.

They were both still nervous and worried about what would happen once they made it to Mexico, but no matter what did happen, they knew they would go through it together, just like they did everything else. The two had been through so much and had overcome it all. This trip was just going to be another memory and at the end of it they would all be okay. He was going to end his day with her in his arms, just like every time before.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thanks for reading guys! 3 more chapters!**

**We appreciate the support you all have given us on this story, and the Blue Moon Series in general more than you'll know. Miss E Charlotte and I both have several other stories, but I can honestly speak for the both of us when I say that the Blue Moon stories have been our absolute favorite to write. We've been able to update every single day because it took us all of about 2 months to write season 4, and that was pretty much writing it twice because we had to stop and completely rework things to put Derek and Avery back together. So we essentially wrote season 4 twice in just a matter of a few short months, and we've never worked that fast on our other stories. Teagan and Avery just have such special places in our hearts and it means so much to be able to share their journeys with you all. ^_^**

**We'd also like to give a shout out to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Iris RainbowWolf, SmellYourScentForMiles, BloomingBlueMoon85 and the wonderful xxxRena for reviewing chapter 44.**


	46. Behind the Mask

**Chapter Forty Six – Behind the Mask**

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><p>Peter glanced over at Avery as she nervously rubbed her hands over her jeans and shifted in the seat, music played loudly through the speakers of the car and he knew she was trying to avoid talking to him.<p>

With a smug expression on his face, he turned back and looked back to the road knowing it was only a matter of minutes before she'd shut the music off and ask him what she'd been wanting to know since before they left.

Right on cue, she reached over and turned the music down so low she could barely hear it.

"Yes?" Peter questioned, glancing back over to the blonde teen.

"Why did you want me to ride with you to Mexico?" She finally asked him.

"You act as though being in a car with me is the worst possible thing." He said, barely looking back over at her.

When she ignored him and looked out of her window at the scenery they were speeding past, he admitted, "I wanted to make sure that we're on the same page."

"Same page?" Avery asked looking over to the werewolf.

He nodded behind them to where Teagan's car and the prisoner van were following them and reasoned, "They're all coming along with one goal in mind –saving Scott and Kira. But we…" He said taking a hand off of the wheel to motion between them, "Want something different; something more."

"You're talking about killing Kate." Avery realized as she looked down to her lap.

"I'm talking about revenge, I'm talking about not letting her get away with that she's done any longer." He agreed.

Swallowing hard she looked back out of her window and argued, "I don't disagree that she deserves to die… slowly and painfully. But Kate isn't my concern right now, saving my friends is."

With a scoff, he nodded back behind them again and said, "Let's your other friends bring them back."

Before she could argue he continued, "Not everyone can be a hero, Avery. Some of us are made of something different… let everyone else worry about Scott and Kira, this could be our one and only shot to take Kate down –and I need to know that you're up for that."

"I'm really getting sick of you comparing me to you and using the term _we_." She sighed rubbing her temples as she added, "I'm this close to turning the radio back up."

He let out a small, amused laugh and said, "Aren't we similar in so many respects?"

She wanted to argue, but she knew he was right. They were similar in so many ways and the more she learned about him, the more she could not only understand why he was the way that he was, but she also found herself sympathizing with him more and more.

Staring down to her lap she thought to herself; only a monster could sympathize with a monster. And truthfully, she'd always felt more like a villain than a hero.

"Look…" She breathed biting down on the side of her tongue, "I know what you're wanting Peter; you're wanting me to us my power against Kate… but I'm not going there, I swore to myself that I wouldn't because it changes me. And she's already taken enough from my life."

"Oh come on, you can't honestly tell me that if you use that power inside of you a few times it's going to change you. I thought you were stronger than that." He pushed, trying to get her on his side and work his way inside of her head.

"It's not just me… my friends-" She started to argue but he cut her off, as he protested, "Your friends want you to use your abilities when it aids them. Tell me something… did Isaac even hesitate before asking you to save Teagan?"

She blew out a heavy breath, "That's completely different –she was dying."

"And don't you think if it were the other way around, Teagan would have asked you to save Isaac? Or that Stiles would ask you to use your power to save Malia if something happened to her? I'd almost bet Scott would look to you for help if Kira was dying as well." He continued to say, his words twisting around inside of her already unstable mind.

"Stop it." She breathed out, but there was a slight helplessness to her tone as she spoke.

"Isn't it the truth though? Every single one of your friends would ask you to use that power –to use your darkness if it benefitted them in one way or another? So tell me then, why would it be so wrong for you to use some of that power for yourself?" He continued, knowing by her body language and the tone of her voice, along with her short, shallow breaths that it was working. He was getting what he wanted, to turn her into a weapon he could use.

"I will do what I have to do to bring my friends back." She confidently said.

"You realize that we'll have to go through the berserkers to get to Kate, and then through Kate to get to Scott and Kira. Trust me, it's going to be messy." He said, his sentence trailing off as his voice got quiet.

Avery looked down and took her phone out of her pocket to see if was a text from Teagan: _Everything okay?_

Avery bit down on her bottom lip and glanced over to Peter before texting back: _Yeah, don't worry about me T._

Moments later another text came through from her brunette best friend: _It's my job to worry about you, A. Still got the radio playing?_

Shaking her head and letting out a small sigh she texted back a lie: _Yeah, the radio is still on._

Darkening the screen on her phone she tucked it into her pocket, hating that she lied but if she told her that she'd turned the radio down and had been talking to Peter, Teagan would start stressing. And the more Avery thought about it the more she realized Teagan probably wouldn't understand it anyways. She hated Peter and for good reason; he did try to kill them in the video store once.

But now Avery couldn't help but replay the werewolf's words through her mind again, and she knew no one would understand why she couldn't hate Peter anymore. But how could she? After knowing it was her mom who'd locked him in a coma to be tortured daily by his own thoughts –and what weighed on her mind even worse was that she couldn't blame him for all of the murders he'd committed, in her mind they'd all deserved to be killed for what they did to the Hale family.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked out of the window and up to the full moon as she really started to feel like maybe she was just as sick and twisted as Peter was –maybe she was just better at hiding it.

"Everything okay?" He asked, seeing her growing more nervous by the second.

"I'm just nervous about this happening on full moon." She opened up, "Liam's probably starting to shift right about now and Malia's just learned control…"

"If you ask me that's a good thing. Malia and Liam… even Isaac, are going to need every ounce of power. Think about what we're going up against… if we're going to face something as animal as a berserker and try to win, they need to focus on the animal inside of them –every ounce of ferocity and savagery that they can muster." He said, keeping a close on her and smiling to himself when he saw her nodding in agreement.

"I read something interesting once, that the full moon doesn't just affect shape-shifters. It can have an effect on all supernatural beings."

She looked over at him with confused expression and he continued, "The power that the moon has over werewolves is believed to be in the natural energy emitted when the moon is at it's strongest… now I don't know much about Imperiums, but I'd be willing to bed that you could draw from that energy –make yourself stronger."

She frowned, knowing he was probably right but if she tried to pull in energy from something as powerful as a full moon, there was no guarantee what that would do to her. But maybe he was right, maybe the only way to get through the berserkers and to get through Kate would be to draw in enough power that she was unstoppable –even if it caused lasting effects or killed her.

There were times he'd came through for the group; like with the kanima situation. He'd been the one who said Jackson needed to be reminded of his identity and that Teagan's connection to him could do that. If he hadn't helped them one of her oldest friends would probably be dead right now.

Shaking her head at herself she started to think that maybe Peter wasn't really as bad as everyone and even herself had thought he was.

When they were almost to La Inglesia, Peter looked back over to the blonde teen and said, "You're going to have to be one who tells your friends, who guides them through this because we're not fighting for survival, we're fighting to kill."

"I'm not going to ask that of them." She argued, shaking her head.

"Think about it. When we get to the church and we step outside of this car… who do you think everyone is going to be looking too for guidance. You're their emissary, they trust you and it's going to be that trust in what you tell them that will either keep them alive or be the death of them." He cautioned, as he looked back to the road hoping he'd gotten through to her.

He had a plan, a very specific plan and in order for that to work he needed her friends to be lethal, to kill without asking a single question –to follow their orders blindly and that plan would only work if Avery was the one giving the orders because he knew no one trusted him.

**~()~**

Several minutes later they arrived at their destination and all the vehicle came to a quick stop near the church. None of them knowing what would be waiting for them, but they knew they had to rush inside the ruined building to find Scott and Kira before it was too late.

Teagan saw Avery throw the door open before stepping out, making her way toward the van to check on Derek and the others. She felt Isaac squeeze her hand, then looked over at him, neither one needing to say a word. She knew everything he was feeling, everything he wanted to say, cause it was the same things she was feeling, it was the same things she wanted to say to him.

The two quickly got out of the car and moved to the back of the car, where all the weapons were. Seeing that Peter was sitting behind the wheel of the car, Teagan rolled her eyes at how useless he was. She reached into her car to pull out a shotgun, until something caught her eye.

She turned her head and gasped when she saw a berserker heading for the van, coming up behind Avery; who had not noticed him yet. The blonde was standing by the back of the van, talking to Derek as she asked if everyone was okay.

"A..." Teagan yelled out, trying to warn her friend.

Avery spun around, but before she could do anything, Derek pushed her out of the way, causing her to fall to the ground, before the berserker grabbed him and slammed him down on top of some rubble and hitting him repeatedly.

"No!" Avery screamed out, as she scrambled to her feet. She heard Teagan yell out her name again, then turned to see her best friend tossing her a loaded shotgun.

While the others jumped out of the vehicles to check on Derek, Teagan and Isaac quickly loaded a few more weapons, while Avery began to rapidly shoot at the berserker until he fled the scene.

Seeing that they were out of danger for the moment, Avery rushed over to Derek, kneeling down in front of him. She reached up to lay her hands on either side of his face, as she breathed out his name, her eyes blurry with tears.

"I can-I can fix this." Avery mumbled out, as she glanced down, trying to get a better look at him to see how badly he was injured. She swiped the tears from her face, as she added,"Somehow I can fix this. I can fix it!"

"Avery..." Derek breathed out. When she ignored him, he laid a hand on the side of her face, as he whispered out,"Hey..." As she snapped her head up to look at him, he added,"It's okay."

"No! No it's not okay! You can't- You can't say that, damn it!" Avery yelled out.

"You have to save them." Derek softly said, referring to Scott and Kira. "It's not too late for them."

"It's not too late for you. I can fix this, Derek! I swear I can fix this." Avery cried out. "Let me fix this." She begged, as she leaned forward to rest her head on his chest, faintly hearing his heart beat.

"A... Avery!" Teagan called out, trying to get her best friend's attention. As much as she hated to do it, she reached out grab her arm, pulling her best friend up to her feet. She grabbed Avery's chin, forcing her to look at her instead of Derek, as she said,"Avery, listen to me! He's right. We have to save Scott and Kira."

"I can't- I can't..." Avery mumbled, as she lowered her head and placed her hands over her face. She never did this; she never broke down in the middle of a battle, but knowing how close she was to losing Derek, she couldn't help it.

They had seen the signs and the warnings for weeks, but she still wanted to believe he would be okay. Even when Derek told her he didn't think he was coming back alive, she didn't want to agree to that. She never wanted to imagine her world without Derek Hale in it. That world was not a world she could live in.

"A, I know-I know it's hard. I know it is, but you-you got to take a deep breath and get back on task." Teagan said with a pained look. She hated seeing her best friend hurting, she even hated seeing Derek hurt, but she had to get Avery to calm down. "I'm sorry, Avery, I'm so sorry." She whispered out.

"I can't leave him alone. He can't be alone, if Kate comes back she'll-"

"I'll stay with him." Teagan offered, interrupting her. "I'll stay. I promise I'll stay with him, I won't let Kate get him." When she saw Avery opened her mouth, she added,"It's going to be okay, trust me. Just trust me, A."

Avery nodded her head before throwing herself into Teagan's arms, giving her a hug. She turned to look at Derek, going over to him and dropping down in front of him.

"I'm coming back for you. I promise." Avery softly said, as she pressed her lips against his, hoping this wasn't the last time. "I love you with a love that's more than love." She whispered to him.

"I love you." Derek mouthed back. He softly smiled at her words, as he lightly ran a finger over her bottom lip. He had told her before that he didn't want to leave her, she was his everything, and he meant it. He didn't want to die, but he would die a hundred deaths protecting her. He didn't regret his actions, but he regretted never seeing her, never touching her or never kissing her again.

Avery gave him one more kiss, as he mumbled out, 'save them', against her lips. She nodded her head, telling him she would, then stood up as she took a deep breath. She had to push everything aside and concentrate on the task at hand. She had a job to do.

After the others walked off, going inside the church, Teagan turned her head to look at Isaac, telling him to get the rest of the weapons ready just in case and to bring her a first aid kit. She made her way over to Derek, kneeling down in front of him.

She called out his name a couple of times, before he finally opened his eyes and looked at her. He let out a painful groan, as he said,"Lydia was right."

Teagan shook her head, tears filling her eyes, as she said,"I had a banshee tell me my time was up too, but I'm still here, and you know why?" She didn't want for him to answer, as she said,"Cause of Avery. Cause she never gave up on me and she's not going to give up on you."

"Don't let her... Don't let her hurt herself to save me." Derek breathed out through the pain. "She won't promise... But you have to."

"I'll always do what I can to protect Avery, but I won't have to promise that, cause you're going to be okay." Teagan pointed out. "You're not dying, Derek!"

"It's a mortal wound, Teagan." Derek argued. "And right now I'm feeling pretty mortal."

"But you can't die. You can't, not after you do something selfless and I'm not feeling that much hatred toward you right now." Teagan joked, trying to light the mood. "This is what you do, Derek. You do something nice, then pull a dick move and make me hate you all over again. We can't stop that now."

"Well dying will kind of be a dick move." Derek stated with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, but you're not dying, so you'll have to think of something else." Teagan argued. "I need to look at the wound. See how bad it is, okay?" When he nodded his head, she reached out to grab the bottom of his shirt, planning to pull it up some to see how badly he was hurt, but before she could, she heard a noise, followed by Isaac softly calling out her name.

Teagan turned her head to look at Isaac, as he nodded his head off to the side. He could smell a berserker coming toward them. She turned back to look at Derek, reaching behind her to pull out the handgun she stuck in the waist band of her jeans after getting out of the car earlier.

"Here." She whispered, as she handed it to Derek. "Can you still pull a trigger?"

Derek nodded his head, then said,"But it doesn't matter, I'm-"

"Going to be okay." Teagan interrupted. "You're not dying. Avery needs you, she loves you and I see it, Derek, you love her too. Find something to fight for and never stop. Fight for Avery, fight for yourself, but damn it don't stop fighting!"

As Derek nodded his head, a look of determination appeared on his face, she gave his shoulder a friendly pat, telling him to hold on a little longer. They'll get him out of there. She stood up and looked back over at Isaac; who tossed her a shotgun.

The couple walked down the side of the building together, then Isaac stepped in front of her as he raised a hand, holding her back, as he peeked around the corner. He quietly swore when he noticed not only was a berserker coming toward them, but so was Kate.

"What is it?" Teagan whispered, after seeing the look on his face.

"It's Kate and a berserker." Isaac whispered back.

"Good." Teagan breathed out with an angry look on her face.

"Hey..." He whispered, when he saw the look on her face. "Stay with me, babe. I know you want her dead, but stay with me. Don't get lost in the anger, okay?" He softly said.

"It's you and me." She mouth to him, causing him to smile at her as he whispered the words back. After hearing their mantra they were both ready for whatever was in store for them.

**~()~**

Avery started to turn back around to look behind her, only vaguely aware that Peter had a tight grip on her arm and was pulling her into the entrance of the church.

Seeing she was starting to turn around Peter moved sideways blocking her view of Derek with his body; he could smell death in the air, hear the rattling noises from his nephews breathing and Peter knew if Avery looked back –she'd run back to him.

"Don't look back… just keep moving." Peter instructed, his grip tightening on the teenagers arm but once they were inside, she pushed him away as she screamed, "No! I… I can't do this, I have to go back… I can't just leave him."

But before she'd even taken a step, Peter grabbed both of her upper arms and pushed her against the crumbling wall as he said, "The only way you're going to save Derek is by taking out the berserkers and Kate, do that and we can all get out here."

"But-" She protested with tears running down her face as she thought of how bad Derek had looked outside, she could still taste the blood from his mouth when she'd kissed him. Her plan was falling apart, this wasn't supposed to happen. They were supposed to save Scott and Kira and get back to Beacon Hills. Derek wasn't supposed to die in Mexico.

"Listen to me!" He ordered, his voice had a growl to it as he held her against the wall with a painfully tight grip on her arms, "You cannot go back, you have to keep moving forward. We have a plan."

"My plan is falling apart…" She sobbed trying to pull away from him, but he didn't let go. She was distantly aware of Stiles telling Peter to let her go, but she couldn't focus on anything other than the pounding in her head and the aching in her heart.

Peter swallowed hard, Derek dying wasn't part of his plan either. But he knew there was nothing they could do and in order to keep the rest of his plan from failing –he needed Avery to pull herself together.

"I know." Peter said, his voice softer than before as he nodded when she looked at him with a heartbroken expression. She stared at him with tears running down her cheeks, almost surprised to see that he looked genuinely sad too. "But you have to pull yourself together…"

His voice trailed off as a claws hand landed on his arm with a grip so tight he thought his bones were going to break.

"Let her go." Liam growled, his voice slightly distorted through his extended canine fangs and his eyes glowing golden-yellow.

Ignoring the beta, Peter looked back to Avery as he assured her, "You can do this. You have to do this."

"I said let go of her." Liam repeated with a growl as he pulled Peter away from Avery.

The blonde immediately doubled over and held onto her knees as she tried to catch her breath and get control over her emotions. Closing her eyes; all she could picture was Derek laying against the pile of rubble outside, bleeding from his wounds and in pain. But just as she started to open her eyes and go back to him she could see someone else –she could see Teagan and hear her best friend's voice repeated what she'd said outside_, "Save Scott and Kira, I'll stay with him. I promise, A… he won't be alone." _

Malia looked over to Avery with a confused expression as the teen's rapidly beating heart slowed down to an almost normal rate.

"Are you okay?" Stiles questioned, slowly walking up to her.

Standing up Avery wiped the tears from her face and pulled in a deep breath as she said, "We find Scott and Kira, we get them… then we get Derek and we go for help."

Liam and Malia nodded and Stiles watched her with an unsure expression, not sure what was going on inside of his friends head.

As Avery looked up she saw Peter looking at her expectantly and she nodded at him before turning to her friends; Avery said, "These berserkers are savages and so is Kate, we need to fight fire with fire here. We don't fight them to survive, or to run away… we need to fight to kill."

Liam pulled in a deep breath but nodded knowing the berserkers wouldn't hesitate to kill them and he was ready to do what he needed to.

"But Scott says we don't kill-" Malia started to argue, but Peter cut her off, "A little fatherly advice… Scott has you thinking that control and humanity are the same for us, but it's not. If any of us are making it out of here alive… you need to focus on the animal inside of you."

"I think the last thing anyone needs is advice from you." Stiles protectively said as he stepped up to Malia's side.

"Maybe, but this time he's right." Avery said as she looked between Malia and Liam as she added, "Now is when you want to hone in on all of that rage and bloodlust, it's our only shot at survival."

They nodded, but Stiles shot her a confused look as he questioned, "Are those your words or Peter's?"

"Does it matter?" She questioned as she brushed past him, her hands opening and closing into fists as her side knowing at any moment she might need to draw in power and she was ready –not matter what it did to her in the long run.

"Uh, yeah!" Stiles called after her, nearly stumbling over his own feet as he struggled to catch up.

As the group reached a large open room with several exits they came to a stop and Peter walked up to the front of the group, using his senses –his eyes glowing blue as he looked around.

"Can you catch a scent?" Avery questioned, her voice quiet as she leaned towards him, not knowing where Kate could be.

After a few moments his gaze focused on a door and he said, "This way."

Avery nodded and followed just a few steps behind him. Stiles watched them his eyebrows lowering in confusion at how they appeared to be working as a team.

Peter out of all people was the one telling her she was strong enough to do this, and then Avery was following along with his every turn. He had no idea what happened in the car ride on the way there, but he didn't like the way this trip was headed.

**~()~**

The two looked at each other for a moment, before they both walked around the corner to face Kate and one of her creatures. Teagan began to fire at the berserker as he ran toward them, but none of the bullets did anything to stop him.

As she stopped to reload, Isaac growled and jumped in front of Teagan before the berserker could reach her. She wanted to keep her eye on Isaac, make sure he was okay, but she also knew she needed to reload.

She tried to shove a shotgun shell in then silently cursed when her shaky hands dropped it. She fell to the ground to grab it, until someone's foot stepped on top of it. She looked up and narrowed her eyes when she saw it was Kate.

"Look what we have here." Kate said. She flashed her a sinister smile, as she said,"How are you doing, sweetheart? Having a little trouble?"

"Échouons, respirer, essayez à nouveau." Teagan stated, speaking the words that Allison taught her; 'fail, breathe, try again'.

Kate's face dropped, as she asked,"How do you know that?"

"She taught it to me. She trained me." Teagan answered. Even if they both knew who she was referring to, she still added,"Allison."

At hearing her niece's name, Kate let out a roar, before she knocked the shotgun from her hand then grabbed Teagan's arms to pull her up from the ground. Teagan swung her fist toward Kate; who quickly blocked it and threw out a fist of her own that the younger girl blocked.

Teagan threw out a leg to kick Kate, knocking her backwards. She reached into her coat pocket to pull out a dagger, but before she could do anything with it, Kate kicked back, knocking the dagger out of her hand. She tried to grab another dagger, but before she could, Kate rushed toward her, backing her up until her back slammed against the building wall, laying her arm across her throat.

"You know, I threatened to kill you before. I threaten to kill you if your little blonde friend didn't follow me. I don't think she even thought twice about it. She went right with me, but funny story, I never planned to kill you then. You weren't a threat to me, but I knew all about the bond you two had. I knew she would go with me." Kate said, referring to the time she took Avery and tortured her and Derek for information about the alpha.

"But now? Now I want to kill you." Kate snarled. "Now I want all of you to pay." She added, before punching Teagan in the stomach, right where her wound was, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Let her go!" Isaac yelled out. Taking his eyes off of the berserker for a minute was all it took for him to get the upper hand. The beta didn't have time to react when the berserker wrapped his hand around his neck, lifting him up in the air, his legs dangling.

Kate turned back to look at Teagan, as she said,"I'll let you decide who dies first. You or your werewolf lover."

"Screw you." Teagan choked out. "If Allison could see you-"

Kate let out a roar and raised her hand, her claws out. Teagan turned her head, waiting for her to strike. She could hear Isaac struggle to get free and calling out her name, giving her a reason to keep fighting. She reached into her coat pocket, pulling out the other dagger, but before either one could do anything, they heard several vehicles pull up, getting their attention.

Kate turned her head, seeing it was the Calaveras. Several of the hunters jumped out of their trucks and opened fire. The berserker dropped Isaac to the ground, before he and Kate rushed off, trying to hide from all the gun fire.

Isaac crawled over to Teagan, he grabbed on to her and dragged her off to the side, hiding behind some rubble. He laid his hands on either side of her face, forcing her to look at him, as he asked,"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Teagan lied, as she breathed through the pain.

"Teagan-"

"We have to get to the car." Teagan interrupted. "We have to get to the rest of the weapons."

Isaac shook his head, as he opened his mouth to argue. Right now all he needed was to get her to somewhere safe and see how badly Kate hurt her, but before he could say anything, they heard someone calling out their names.

The couple turned their heads, looking to see that it was Chris and Parrish. The two fired off some shots, then Chris waved them over. Teagan glanced around, realizing it was closer to run to Chris than to their car. She turned back to look at Isaac, telling him they needed to make a run for it.

Isaac nodded his head, telling her to stay behind him, as the two jumping up and ran toward Chris, successfully able to dodge all the bullets. The two collapsed against Chris' vehicle, trying to catch their breath.

Isaac turned to look at his girlfriend, checking her over, then looked into her eyes, as he silent asked if she was okay. She nodded her heard, as she laid a hand against her wound, not wanting to worry him and tell him how badly it was hurting at the moment.

"Where is everyone else?" Chris questioned, as he and Parrish fired off a few more rounds.

"Inside." Isaac answered, as he nodded toward the church.

"They're trying to find Scott and Kira." Teagan added.

Chris kneeled down beside them as he reloaded, then he looked over at the two teens, as he asked,"Are you two okay?"

As Teagan nodded her head, Isaac spoke up,"We're fine, but she needs weapons."

"Here." Chris said, as he handed Teagan the assault rifle he just reloaded. "Take this."

Teagan nodded her head in thanks as she took the gun from him. He grabbed her arm before she could pull away, getting her attention. After having to say good bye to his own daughter and seeing all the close calls between her and Avery, he hated sending her back into the middle of everything, but knew it's what he had to do. The girl was trained to be a warrior, he knew she could do it, but that didn't stop him from softly saying,"Be careful."

"You too." Teagan whispered back.

As Chris ran back to the back of his vehicle to grab another gun. Teagan looked over at Isaac for a moment, silently asking him if he was ready. He was always ready, but was worried about her.

Hearing even more gun fire, she glanced around, seeing more berserkers showing up for the fight. There were still more hunters, but none of their bullets were making a difference, nothing was getting through their armor. She was trying to have hope, just like Isaac always did, but wasn't sure how much longer they all could last before everyone ran out of ammo.

With her boyfriend on her mind, she felt him grab her hand, giving it a squeeze. She turned her head to look at him, as he gave her a smile, then said,"This isn't our ending."

Teagan smiled back, as she nodded her head, and said,"Find something to fight for and keep fighting."

**~()~**

Once they got the room and into the hallway, Peter's pace picked up into an almost run and everyone chased after him –Avery was right on his tail and Stiles was somehow managing to keep up right behind, only slightly stumbling over the rubble on the floor as the moonlight scattered down on them from the destroyed room.

Malia chased after Stiles, with Kira's katana in her hand to try and pick up on the kitsune's scent and Liam was bringing up the rear of the group. He kept fearfully checking over his shoulder to make sure that no one was sneaking up on the group.

As they reached the end of the hallway, Peter came to an abrupt halt and let out a groan of pain as Avery ran right into his back, followed by Stiles tripping into them. With another groan he whisper-yelled at them, "Stop, stop, stop!"

"Us stop? Why the hell are people always coming to a dead stop in the center of hallways?" Avery hissed at him as she took a few steps back to put distance between them when he turned around.

Rolling his eyes at her remark he pointed out, "We need to figure out where we are, then we need to figure out how to find Scott and Kira."

Everyone agreed and Peter poked his head out of the hallway, looking around to see where they were. But his concentration was broken when Stiles' phone started to ring from his pocket.

Taking his phone out the teen mumbled, "How do I even have service…" rubbing his forehead he answered his dad's call and walked past Peter out into the next room without even looking around.

Looking back to the rest of the group, Peter pointed at Stiles with a shocked and confused expression on his face, like he couldn't believe that the teen had answered his phone in the middle of a life or death rescue mission.

Everyone else stood quietly and listened to Stiles' end of the phone call as he asked his dad to go to the school to check on Lydia and Mason, but warned him that if there was a berserker at the school he'd need a lot of firepower to win.

Stiles ended the call and turned back to the rest of the group with a small shrug, terrified for not only his best friend but now for his dad's life as well.

"What do we do now?" Liam asked.

Looking back Malia exclaimed, "Duck!" As she placed a hand on the back of the beta's neck and pulled him down to the floor with her; the both of them narrowly avoiding the strong arm of a berserker.

"Whoa! Get back!" Peter yelled to the teens, pushing them all away from the berserker as he yelled, "Go! Go!"

As the group raced down a few more hallways before finally getting into an open room, Malia realized they needed to split up. Tossing the katana to Stiles she yelled, "Go find Kira and Scott."

He started to protest but Avery yelled, "Go!"

He shook his head, giving them a look to show he didn't like this plan but he listened to them as he took off.

Avery looked around, quickly locating Liam standing back against a wall –a look of fear on his face. Then she look over to see Peter hiding behind a partially destroyed wall off to the side –she expected nothing less from him than to run and hide when the fighting broke out.

"Ready?" Avery asked looking over to Malia who was standing at her side when they heard the low growl of the berserker just outside of the room.

The werecoyote nodded, pulling in a deep breath she remember what Avery and Peter had told her about needing to tap into her animal side. Her eyes glowed blue and she let out a guttural growl of her own as she nodded and they looked up to see the berserker coming into the room, easily taking out a cement column with one strike.

Malia raced forward, managing to get in a few punches before it knocked her to the side. The berserker took a step closer to Avery and her hands clenched into fists at her side, ready to draw in enough power to kill thing even if it killed her too.

But to her surprise, Liam darted past her landed a single powerful blow against the berserker's bone skull before he was also knocked to the ground.

Peter watched as the berserker closed in on Avery, but the teen didn't even flinch as the moonlight pouring in through the glassless windows was stronger than before, with a determined noise she leaned forward –placing both hands on the exterior ribcage of the beast and pushing as a loud crack sounded the room and the berserker stumbled backwards.

Liam's eyes widened surprise, he'd never seen any of them affect a berserker like that before.

Knowing that Avery was going to take in as much power as she needed too, it was clear that they were going to win this fight –Peter came out of his hiding spot and joined the fight.

The two werewolves and the werecoyote fought against the berserker, the group crashing and thudding all over the room with Avery only pulling power to fight when she absolutely needed too.

She knew there was a chance that Derek might make it out of this alive and if he did then she wanted to be able to stay with him, and not lose herself in the darkness.

Every hit the wolves got in against the bone armor of the berserker rang through the air like deafening claps of thunder, so loud they couldn't hear the gunshots outside of the church.

As Peter went in for another hit, the berserker sent him flying backwards into the wall. As he landed to the ground with a pained noise he looked up and yelled, "Avery… you have to fight back!"

She could feel the blood trickling down her chin from her nose –a result of using too much power, and along with that her entire body was bruised and cut from being thrown across the room a few times herself.

Just one last pull of energy she thought to herself, just a little more and she could knock the berserker down to where it couldn't get back up and they could end it.

Malia started to charge at it, but stopped when Avery darted past her and hit the berserker with a blast of power that sent it flying across the room and sliding across the floor, severely weakened.

Peter jumped to his feet, tossing Malia one of the bone daggers the berserker had used and ordered, "Take it!"

Liam and Peter pulled the beast to it's feet and held it still, opening up the berserker for one final blow.

Malia started towards and it Avery watched, swaying slightly from weakness and feeling dizzy, but just as she started to bring her arm forward to kill it Stiles and Kira rushed into room.

Malia was too wrapped up in the moment to hear Stiles as he yelled for her to wait, but Kira reacted quickly as she swung her sword and cut the bone dagger in half.

"What the hell are you doing?" Avery asked them, her breathing labored from pain.

"It's Scott!" Stiles explained, as Kira held onto her sword ready to strike again if she needed too. "It's Scott." He repeated.

Avery stepped closer as the berserker struggled against the werewolves grip on him and her eyes widened as she caught a glimpse of the eyes behind the animal mask.

Liam saw the same thing she did and in response his grip loosened on the berserker who, slammed Liam and Peter's bodies together before throwing them both backwards.

With Malia caught off guard, he managed to get a strong hit right to her face and she fell back onto the floor.

Kira and Stiles tried to reach through Scott, to get through the bone armor and talk to their friend, but the problem was it wasn't just the bones he was wearing –Kate had turned him into a monster, into an animal.

Avery started to go to her friends aid as Scott hit Stiles and knocked him backwards, but Peter grabbed onto her arm and reminded her, "Remember what I said… it' a terrible thing that's Kate's done, but just because you see human eyes behind those skulls… doesn't mean there is any humanity left."

Avery looked at him and tried to pull her arm away but he held on tight as continued, "You've done the research… you know what a berserker is."

"You're right." Avery agreed nodding. Peter let out a small breath of relief, but the feeling was short lived as she jerked her arm away from him and hissed, "But that isn't a berserker… that's Scott."

Her eyes darkened to their imperium black as she used her powers again to send Peter's body violently flying across the room, before she blinked them back to normal and rushed to her friends as Scott got a hold of Liam and raised his him up the wall with a single hand.

"What do we do?" Malia asked Avery as she darted to her side.

Avery let out a breathless noise and stuttered, "I… I, I don't know. If we hold him down and rip this bone armor off of him... Scott will die too. He's taken in a savage animal spirit from the bones."

"Scott!" Liam cried out clutching onto his alpha's arm as he raised him up farther on the wall, cutting off more of his air supply.

"We can't save him… he has to save himself." Avery realized under her breath as she raised her head with wide eyes and called out, "The only one who can break the Scott free of the berserker hold… is Scott."

Her eyes darted to where Stiles was trying to pick himself up off of the floor, but then another person came to mind. The bond between an alpha and one of their bitten betas went beyond friendship.

"Liam, talk to him. You can reach him…" Avery confidently said.

Fearfully Liam struggled against the hold on him, before he caught one of Scott's eyes behind the mask as he raised his arm and went to strike the beta. "Scott, Scott! Listen… listen!" Liam cried out, "You're not a monster… you're a werewolf –like me." He used his alpha's own words back to him and then held his breath as he waited to see if it worked.

A smile spread over Avery's lips as Scott lowered Liam back to the ground. Taking a stumbling step backwards he started to pull the armor off of himself starting with the gloves and spiked arm shields, ripping through the animal-hide straps holding the other armor on and finally he grabbed onto the skull and cracked it right down the middle with a roar of victory as he dropped the last of the bones to the ground.

He looked at his friends with his face shifted and his glowing red eyes.

Walking up to him, Avery tearfully apologized, "Scott, I am so sorry… I-"

Cutting her off he assured her, "It's not your fault."

Stepping up to her he laid a hand on her shoulder as he nodded to show he didn't blame her, then he stepped beside and looked at Peter who was pulling himself to his feet from where he'd landed with Avery threw him.

"You…" Scott growled at him, "The only one who knew as much as Argent about berserkers, about the Nagual. You taught Kate; you helped her -all for power."

Avery turned and faced Peter with Scott as the older wolf growled, "For my family's power. To be rightfully inherited by me. Not usurped by some idiot teenage boy, so incorruptible, he won't shed the blood of his enemies even when justified. You don't deserve your power. Not power like this." His voice became distorted as his eyes glowed and his fangs extended, his face started to shift right in front of them.

Malia who'd been standing close to him, fearfully backed away when she could feel the air change and saw Peter's face as it revealed what he truly was –a monster.

Letting out a roar he started towards Scott, but Malia jumped in the way –her eyes also glowing blue as she tried to roar over him, but he knocked her to the side. Where she hit a slab of cement and instantly shifted back to human from the pain.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, we'll talk about this late." He growled as his gaze snapped back to Scott.

Kira swung her katana and started after him but Scott stopped her, silently letting her know that this was his fight as he stared down the one who'd bitten him –the one who changed it all and now the one who was trying to end it.

"Kira!" Avery breathed as she rushed over her to friend and said, "I have to go… one of the berserkers… t-they got Derek and-" Her voice grew so hoarse she couldn't speak.

Kira swallowed hard as she nodded and said, "Go… it's okay, go."

Nodding in thanks, Avery glanced back at Scott one more time. Trusting in his judgment and his power as an alpha to be able to hold his own in the fight against Peter, she just hoped she wasn't too late to see Derek again.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- 2 more chapters! I honestly can't believe we're mere days away from being done with A New Blue Moon!**

**Thank you to SmellYourScentForMiles, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Iris RainbowWolf and Exuberance of Youth for reviewing chapter 46! We're so glad you liked it and appreciate your reviews and support more than you'll ever know! ^_^**


	47. Evolving

**Chapter Forty Seven – Evolving**

* * *

><p>As the others were still outside shooting, Teagan looked over at Isaac, as she said,"We need to get back to Derek. We have to check on him. I promised Avery."<p>

"Let's go then." Isaac said, as he squeezed her hand. "Stay behind me, okay?"

When she nodded her head, he jumped up and began to run toward the area they left Derek. Teagan ran along behind him, firing off shots when needed and avoiding bullets. They were almost to Derek, when a berserker tackled Isaac to the ground. Teagan fired off a few shots, until Isaac yelled out for her to run. He told her he was okay and to get to Derek.

Teagan nodded her head, tears filling her eyes at the thought of leaving him, before she regrettably turned and ran over to Derek. She fell down to her knees in front of him, as she called out his name.

He turned his head to look at her, a small smile on his face, as he whispered out,"Tell Avery..." His voice trailed off, as he laid his head back and closed his eyes.

"Derek?... Derek!" Teagan yelled out. She leaned forward, placing her head against his chest, then gasp when she couldn't hear his heart beating. She pulled back, placing her hand over her mouth, as a tear ran down her face.

"No... no, no, no!" Teagan cried out, as she grabbed his shoulder, giving it a small shake. "You-You can't. You can't die, Derek!" She shook him harder, as she added,"She needs you! You can't- Damn it, you can't do this, Derek!"

She placed her hand back over her mouth, as she lowered her head, knowing how badly this was going to hurt Avery. This wasn't suppose to happen. They were not supposed to lose anyone else, they were all suppose to walk away together.

Hearing someone fall down beside her, she raised her head, then breathed out a sigh of relief when she saw it was Isaac. He pulled Teagan toward him, letting her bury her face in his chest, as he looked over at Derek with a pained look.

The two held each other for a moment, until they heard all the shooting stop. The two turned their heads, seeing a couple of hunters walking toward the front of one of the many vehicles parked; it was were Kate was currently hiding at.

They were almost to the front of the car when Kate jumped out and began to fight them, starting back up all the gun fire. Teagan grabbed the rifle and stood up as she began to shoot at one of the many berserkers; who was at the moment tearing apart several of the hunters and dropped their bodies to the ground.

"Teagan! Watch out!" Isaac yelled before he grabbed her and pulled her down to the ground, when he saw a berserker forcing a hunter to turn his gun toward them before firing off shots at them.

He held on to her as he rolled them away from the area they were in. The two leaned back against one of the trucks, as they tried to catch their breaths. Teagan checked the rifle in her hand then let out a sigh, as she said,"I'm almost out of ammo."

"You don't have any weapons at all?" He questioned, knowing sometimes she had several daggers hidden on her. But as she shook her head, he raised his head for a moment, then dropped back down before a bullet hit him.

He looked over at her, as he said,"There is no way you can make it to the car. There's too much gunfire."

"Damn it." She quietly said, as she threw her head back with a groan.

She turned her head to look at him and opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, he grabbed her and pressed his lips against hers for a heated kiss, shutting her up.

"What was that for?" Teagan asked.

"I love you."

"Isaac?" She questioned, having a very bad feeling about what he was going to say next.

"I'm going to get you those weapons." Isaac stated, as he went to stand up, but before he could, she grabbed him and pulled him back down. Telling him no.

He laid his hands on either side of her face, as he softly said,"I'm coming back to you. I promise, I'm coming back."

"This isn't our ending." She said, repeating what he said earlier.

Isaac nodded his head in agreement, giving her a quick kiss, as he whispered against her lips,"It's you and me."

When she opened her eyes he was gone. She raised her head over the truck, trying to keep her eyes on him, but had to fall back to the ground when bullets began to fly toward her.

She leaned her head back against the truck, closing her eyes, as she tried to block out all the dying screams from the hunters. She listened out for Isaac, hoping not to recognize his screams mixed in with the others.

She wasn't sure how long she had been waiting, to her it felt longer than it really was. When she heard someone falling against the truck beside her, she opened her eyes and smiled when she saw it was Isaac.

"Told you I was coming back." He said with a wink. "I'll always come back to you, babe."

She threw herself in his arms, taking a deep breath and feeling herself relax when his scent hit her nose. "I love you." She breathed out, relieved he made it back to her safely.

He whispered the words back, kissing the side of her head, then pulled back to look at her with a smile on his face. He handed her a couple of hand guns and all the ammo he could carry, as he said,"Let's go kick some ass, babe."

**~()~**

Avery ran out of the church her, the scent of gunpowder was strong in the air from all the gunfire. She could see Teagan firing at a berserker with her gun, before her friend ducked down to reload and she breathed a sigh of relief to see that she was okay. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Isaac duck and dodge a few stray bullets before sliding to a stop on the ground next to Teagan.

Looking over she expected to see Derek in the same spot she'd left him, but all that was there was a few puddles of blood. She closed her eyes and hoped that he was okay and maybe Isaac or Teagan had moved out of the middle of the war zone.

Surveying her surroundings she saw Kate facing down with Araya, and then glancing down she nearly tripped over the dead body of one of the South American hunters. Kneeling down she picked up the shot gun at the fallen hunters side and ducked behind wall herself. Raising up she fired several shots towards the berserker everyone else was firing at before a howl sounded through the air.

In response all of the gunfire stopped, even the berserker stopped fighting back as the howling continued.

Avery looked over to see a large black wolf jump down from a broken exterior wall of the church, even in just the lighting from the moon it's dark fur shined beautifully. Kate growled at the wolf but a look of shock fell over her face when the wolf raised it head and looked at her with glowing blue eyes.

But the blonde teen didn't need to see the blue eyes to know it was Derek.

Avery looked over to see Teagan and Isaac were also now on their feet staring with matching shocked expressions as the wolf effortlessly brought Kate argent down with a hard thud to the ground. It's sharp teeth ripping and tearing away at the werejaguars skin as she screamed and thrashed in pain.

Once it let go of her neck, Kate kicked and clawed at the ground trying to put distance between herself and the wolf.

Avery watched with tears in her eyes and small smile on her face as Derek shifted from a wolf back into his human form and she was pretty sure it was the most beautiful thing she'd even seen.

As Derek walked toward her, Kate words came out scrambled from shock, "You –you were dead…"

"No." Derek corrected, self-assured smile, "I was evolving… something you'll never do."

Kate's last berserker came to her rescue and Avery's mind flashed back to then they'd first gotten to La Inglesia as the berserker swung a bone dagger at him. But Derek missed the shot and then grabbed onto it's skull mask. Using all of his strength he pulled it off, the skull stayed in his hands and the rest of the bone armor landed in a pile of dust at his feet as he completely destroyed the berserker.

Looking even more terrified than before, Kate got to her feet and took off running but was brought back down as Chris fired a single shot, with a yellow wolfsbane bullet at his sister. The surprise and betrayal was apparent on her face when she looked back at him, as the was sorrow and heartbreak on his own face.

With a pained groan she got back up on her feet and ran from the scene, as her older brother followed her.

Avery watched them go, a part of her knew she should go after Kate –that this might be her only shot to take her down. But in that moment she didn't care if Kate got away. All she was aware of and all that mattered to her was that Derek was alive.

Without a second thought she dropped her stolen gun to the ground and rushed towards him, calling out his name before she threw herself into his arms. He clutched onto her, closing his eyes and breathing in her scent with his newly heightened senses as the stood still with the hazy smoke of all the gunfire settling around them.

He also didn't care that Kate managed to run off or even that he was standing there naked after shifting back. All that he cared about was Avery and the fact that somhow, despite all of the odds that had been stacked up against them –here they were, standing in each other's arms as the dust and smoke started clear.

**~()~**

With all the fighting done, Teagan lowered her arms, the two handguns resting by her sides. A smile appeared on her face when she saw Avery and Derek holding each other. She and Isaac honestly thought Derek was dead when they last saw him, but she was relieved to see that he was now okay.

She turned her head when she heard someone walking toward her. Her smile widen when she saw it was Isaac. She dropped her empty guns, then threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shirt as he held her tightly against him.

Knowing the fighting was over and they were all okay, she felt like she could finally breathe, but it also made her realize how much she was hurting. She let out a small pained groan, as her knees went weak.

Isaac kept his arms wrapped around her, as they sank to the ground. He pulled back to look at her, brushing her hair from her face, as he asked,"It's your wound, isn't it? How bad does it hurt?"

"Not that bad." Teagan lied, as she raised her shirt up some to check the bandage, which was leaking blood.

A look of panic appeared on his face, as he began to say,"Jeez, babe. Maybe we should take you-"

"I'm not going anywhere. I'm okay." Teagan interrupted, knowing he was thinking of when she was shot before and was worried about losing her again. "You can rebandage it later, but right now, all I want to do is watch the sunrise in your arms. Just like Long Beach."

Isaac laid the palm of his hand against her, smiling when she intertwined their fingers. He laid his forehead against hers, drawing out some of the pain she was in, as he blew out a breath.

"I'm not going anywhere." She whispered again, hoping to ease his mind. "We make our own fate, remember?"

"You're damn right we do." Isaac stated, as he pulled back to look at her. He laid his free hand on the side of her neck, before pulling her toward him to press his lips against hers for a heated kiss. "I'm not losing you, babe. It's you and me, always."

"Always." Teagan whispered back, before she pressed her lips against his for another kiss.

**~()~**

The Calaveras, or what was left of them –started to fan out and search the area for any sign of Kate and sun was just starting to come up. Avery wasn't sure how long she'd been standing there in Derek's arms, but she knew it wasn't long enough. Forever couldn't be long enough.

"Are you okay?" He finally asked still keeping her wrapped in his arms.

"I should be asking you that." She said with a small laugh.

He smiled at the sound and glanced around them before he said, "Other than being naked with all of these headlights on me like spot lights, I'm okay."

She shook her head and laughed before she rested her forehead against his chest and breathed out another content sigh of relief to be in his arms again before she looked up and said, "We could make a break for your car… you've got clothes in back."

He gave her a small smile as he leaned down and claimed her lips in a kiss that almost made her knees go weak.

After he'd pulled some clothes on from his bags, she started to tell him what happened inside but before she could she heard someone say her name. Turning around she smiled at her best friend as the girls surveyed each other's disheveled appearances.

Teagan smiled at seeing that other some blood on her face, dirty clothes and cuts and bruises her friend seemed okay. The brunette stepped forward pulling her into a hug as she said, "I don't even care that you've been all over Derek's naked body, I'm going to hug you anyways."

Avery laughed in response to her friend's word and hugged her tightly, not seeing that Teagan gave Derek a friendly smile and nod over her shoulder. Clutching onto her best friend Avery said, "We should probably go inside and check on the others."

"No need." Isaac pointed out as he joined the group at the back of Derek's car and nodded to where Stiles, Malia and Kira walked out of the building. Just when they started to worry they breathed a sigh of relief when Scott and Liam emerged, dragging someone on the ground behind them.

"Who is that?" Teagan gasped.

"Probably Peter." Avery sighed as she shook her head and looked around her friends as she admitted, "It was a trap… Peter was working with Kate, she turned Scott into a berserker and we almost killed him. It was a trap… the entire damn thing was a set up."

Isaac wrapped an arm around Teagan and pulled her against him as she wrapped her arms around his middle and the watched as Liam and Scott continued to drag Peter's motionless body towards the prisoner transport van.

Derek looked down at his girlfriend with a frown, he could feel her emotions in the air and the strongest one was guilt. "This isn't your fault." He assured her as he watched her closely.

"I'm glad you're all okay." Deputy Parrish said as he walked up to them, catching the end of the conversation.

"Hey…" Avery breathed a surprised look as she stepped forward and hugged him, "What are you doing here?"

"He showed up with Argent." Isaac filled them in.

Stepping back from the friendly embrace Avery shot him a confused look and he filled the group in on how he'd been following Peter since the day at the police station with Meredith and that he'd found an extremely injured Chris Argent down in the sewer.

Avery shook her head and gritted her teeth as he continued to explain to them how after getting the hunter to the hospital, they'd left for Mexico trying to warn everybody.

Derek reached out pulling Avery against his side when he could feel her guilt and anger again. Even Parrish, who'd only just met Peter knew he couldn't be trusted and yet she knew all of the awful things he'd done and she'd believed him. Parrish looked between the couples and offered a smile before he headed off to see off Chris Argent needed any help when he saw him stumbling out of the entrance to an underground tunnel where'd followed his sister.

They all exchanged looks, even though the trip had been a set up from the beginning. A few good things had come out of it, top of the list being that they'd all made it out alive that was the thought filling Avery's mind as she turned towards Derek and wrapped her arms around him, trying to ignore the darkness inside of her that she'd strengthened to fight the berserker.

**~()~**

Avery looked back to La Inglesia as Derek loaded the last bag into the back of his car. The sun was breaking through the early morning clouds over the tall bell towers of the church, she glanced down for a moment and thought to herself how strange it was that a place responsible for so much pain could look so beautiful in the daylight.

Derek motioned for her to move out of the way so he could close the back hatch of his car. She took a few steps back and looked around, Deputy Parrish was standing off to the side leaned against the stolen prisoner transport van, Teagan and Isaac were standing a few feet away from the rest of her friends were lined up in front of the church.

She noticed Teagan kept watching the Calaveras, who were parked a little ways away from them with Araya standing near Chris Argent. It was easy to tell that the brunette didn't trust them, and neither did Avery –which made that much harder to stomach when the hunter explained he was leaving with them.

Teagan opened her mouth to protest, but Chris Argent didn't give her a chance as he looked to the group and said, "There's enough yellow wolfsbane to keep Peter out for the trip back. But be careful."

"You're really going with them?" Scott questioned, obviously against the idea as well.

"I made a deal with the Calaveras weeks ago –to leave you alone, all of you. But only if I help them catch Kate." He explained, as he scanned the group with a sad, proud eyes at seeing how much they'd overcame.

"What if you can't?" Kira asked, the question sounded strange coming from the one in the group who always seemed to have an unusually optimistic outlook on whatever situation lay ahead.

"I'll find her someone has to." He reasoned.

"Which is why I should go with you." Avery spoke up as she took a few steps closer until Derek grabbed onto her arm in a silent protest and Teagan called out, "A, no!"

"If I had actively been looking for Kate, I would have found her months ago. I know how she thinks and-" The blonde argued and tried to prove her point at the same time, but Chris cut her off as he shook his head and assured her, "I'll find her. She won't be able to hurt you anyone anymore."

"No… you don't understand, when I gave a little bit of thought to it… I figured out she could be in the sewers. If I go with you –I can find her, I know I can do this." She pleaded, feeling like the only way she was going to ever have closure would be if she helped bring Kate down.

After all, they wouldn't be in this mess at the moment if she'd have just ended it at the hospital when she'd came face-to-face with the werejaguar.

Isaac kept his arms locked protectively around his girlfriend when Teagan gasped at hearing Araya say, "She has a point and we could use-"

She never got to finish her sentence as Chris looked over his shoulder and gruffly stated, "No, that wasn't the deal."

"But-" Avery argued, as he walked over to her.

Putting hand on her shoulder he said, "I know… I know what she did to you and I know how badly you want to find her. But you need to leave this to me –trust me."

Avery swallowed hard and looked from the older hunters face and over to her friends who all looked scared at the idea of her taking off with the Calaveras. Blowing out a breath she tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked back to Chris Argent and nodded, "I trust you."

He gave her shoulder a squeeze and small smile, before he looked back at the rest of the group. His eyes stopping on Teagan and Isaac as he gave them a nod, a silent goodbye before he turned and left with the South American hunters.

As sad as everyone was to see him go, they were also relieved that Avery had agreed to stay. However, the expression on Teagan's face didn't seemed that relived; she knew Avery trusted Chris Argent just as much as she did –but she also know her blonde best friend never backed down that easily. But when she saw Derek slide an arm around her waist, she hoped that Avery had agreed because she had enough reasons to want to come back to Beacon Hills and not because she was busy plotting.

"Ready to go home?" Derek asked as he looked down to Avery at his side.

Stepping away from him she looked around, her eyes moving over the crumbling remains of La Inglesia as she thought to herself that she was ready to go and leave all of this behind –but she wasn't so sure she could.

He shot a look verging on both confusion and concern when she didn't immediately answer him. She looked over her shoulder to where Teagan and Isaac were walking and hand towards her car, and the rest of her friends were heading towards the transport van where Peter was drugged with wolfsbane and chained down in the back.

She knew where they were taking him, a special closed unit of Eichen House where they kept monsters in a weakened, docile state behind door frames made of a mountain ash.

"Avery?" Derek questioned the longer she held her silence.

Shaking her head and offering him a smile she nodded, "Yeah, lets get out of here."

He opened up her door and she got into the passenger side of the car where he gave her a quick kiss before shutting the door behind her and nodding at Scott to let him know they'd meet back up in Beacon Hills as he walked around to the driver's side of his car.

**~()~**

While everyone split up and began to walk toward the other vehicles, Teagan and Isaac were walking toward their car. As Isaac began to unload and pack the weapons back up, Teagan leaned back against the car, watching as Derek drove away with Avery sitting beside him. She glanced over at the van, smiling at her other friends, as they climbed inside.

Once he was done, Isaac shut the back door, then walked over to Teagan, seeing the smile on her face. He came to a stop in front of her, leaning forward to rest his hands on the car on either side of her. He gave her a quick kiss, before pulling back and asked,"What has my girl so happy?"

"We did it." Teagan stated. "We all went into battle together and we all walked out alive."

When he saw her face fall, he laid a hand on the side of her face, as he said,"That's a good thing, babe."

"I know, I'm just thinking..."

"Allison?" Isaac guessed.

Teagan nodded her head, as she said,"She should be here. We should all be celebrating this win together."

He moved his hand from her face to her chest, laying his hand over her heart, as he softly said,"She's always here." He gave her a smile, as he added,"And she would be proud of you."

"She would be proud of all of us." Teagan added.

Isaac nodded his head in agreement before he leaned forward to give her a soft kiss. He couldn't help but think about all the two have been through and not just lately, but in the last year. They had been through a lot; alphas, kanima, onis, nogitsune, hauntings, close calls and the list went on and on, but now here they stood together stronger than ever and he had no doubt they would always be that way. He had no doubt they could get through anything.

He laid a hand on her side, careful of the wound on her side. He pulled back to look at her, as he asked,"How are you feeling? How is your side?"

"It's still hurting some, but not as bad as before." Teagan answered, as she lifted her shirt up some to show him. Earlier he put a new bandage on it and thankfully it had stopped bleeding.

He lightly touched the bandage, as he said,"When we get back to town, I'm taking you to the doctor." When he saw her shaking her head, he added,"At least let Melissa look over it. Make sure nothing got messed up while we were running around avoiding bullets or when Kate punched you." He blew out a breath, as he continued,"Which never should have happened. She never should have laid a hand on you, I should have-"

"Hey..." She said, interrupting him. She laid her hands on either side of his face, seeing the guilty he was carrying,"None of that is your fault. I'm okay." She grabbed his arms, wrapping them around herself, as she added,"This is just another memory, but we're ending the day with me in your arms, that is all that matters, remember? That is our life. That is our fate."

Isaac nodded his head, smiling at her words, before he leaned forward to kiss her lips. He pulled back to look at her, as he said,"But no more fighting until you are completely healed, okay?" When he saw her open her mouth, he added,"I mean it, babe, nothing but bed rest for you until you are 100% better."

"Okay, but only if you're in the bed with me." Teagan pointed out, as she captured his lips. "We can get under our safety bubble... " She began to say, as she kissed him again. "Order some chinese and recreate Long Beach."

"Mm." Isaac moaned, as she nibbled on his bottom lip. "I want that, more than you know, but until you're healed we should probably hold off on a recreating."

He chuckled when he saw her pout, then gave her a quick kiss, before saying,"I need my girl to be better soon cause I plan to take her out for our anniversary."

"I can't believe it's almost been a year." Teagan said, as she shook her head. "So much has happened, so much that sometimes it makes my head spin, but you've always been there. Believing in me, believing in us... As corny as it sounds, you complete my life, Isaac. You bring out the best parts of me and I love you for that."

"And you saved my life, Teagan. " Isaac stated. He gave her a smile, as he added,"Your life wasn't the only one that changed with one kiss."

Teagan smiled at his words, as she leaned forward to kiss him, but before their lips could touch, they heard a horn blow. They turned to see Stiles behind the wheel in the van. He threw out his arms, gesturing for them to get in the car so they could all leave.

"Does everyone take cockblock lessons from Avery now?" Isaac questioned out loud, as he shot Stiles a look.

Stiles swallowed hard when he saw the look Isaac was giving him. If looks could kill he would be deader than dead. He stuck his head out of the window, as he yelled out,"Sorry! Carry on!"

Isaac turned back to look at his girlfriend and opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, Stiles stuck his head out again to say,"But just to remind you, we are in the middle of nowhere, miles from home and there could still be some were-something running around or-"

As Isaac let out a small growl, Teagan laughed, as she yelled out,"We get it, Stiles. We're leaving."

Teagan turned back to look at Isaac, laying her hands on either side of his face, as she gave him a smile and said,"Let's go home, babe."

**~()~**

Derek looked over to Avery as he drove them back towards California.

She was sitting in the passenger seat with her boots kicked off in the floorboard and her socked feet up in the seat with her as she wrapped her arms around her legs and stared out of the window.

"What's going on?" He finally asked, unable to take the silence any longer when the air was thickly laced with her emotions.

"I almost killed Scott." She breathed, shaking her head and refusing to look over at him as she spoke.

"Because you thought he was a berserker, you didn't know any different." Derek tried to comfort her, but his words provided little ease to her troubled mind.

"You don't understand." She softly breathed.

"Then explain it to me."

Looking over at him for a moment she looked back out of her window and said, "The entire time we were waiting at the cars before we left –Peter kept talking about how you don't fight berserkers to survive, you fight them to kill. And then on the car ride there he repeated things like that several times and I should have known. I should have known something was up from the moment he volunteered to go with us to Mexico."

Blowing out a heavy breath she gritted her teeth and shook her head as she mumbled, "How could I have been so stupid?"

"No, this isn't on you. This is just another classic case of Peter managing to get into someone's head. He's manipulative and he struck when we were all weak, none of us saw it coming." Derek argued with her.

In his mind it was his fault, he knew it was a bad idea to let Avery ride with his uncle to La Inglesia, but he'd let her go anyways.

"That's just it though… everyone knew not to trust him but everyone trusted me and once we got inside of the church, I took charge –I told them that we needed to kill whatever got in our way. I looked right and Malia when she argued with me because Scott told her we don't kill, and I just… I told her that she needed to tap into her inner animal and use it." Avery said, her breathing growing shallow as she replayed the memories in her mind she gasped, "I was willing to turn my friends into a group of killers… all because I believed what Peter told me."

"It's not-"

"It is my fault, Derek! I listened to Peter… I believed him because everything he was saying was making sense and somehow in my head, I excused all of the bad things he'd done because in a twisted way… he was justified in what he did and it's not entirely his fault." She said, as she closed her eyes and then added in, "He got into my head… manipulated and used me the same way Kate did when I first met her."

Derek checked the mirrors before pulling off to the side of the road and putting the car in park as he turned and faced her, "What do you mean?" He questioned, his forehead lined with confusion.

"Remember when Kate first got to town last year…" She started to remind him, but he nodded and cut her off, "What do you mean it wasn't his fault?"

"That day when Meredith would only talk to me and Peter at the police station… I found out a lot." She said as she looked around the interior of the car.

"Yeah, like he was the reason for the dead-pool." Derek nodded, remembering what she'd told him.

"Yeah, but a lot more than that. My mom went to see Peter in the hospital before she left Beacon Hills and she put him in a type of coma… but one where he was awake. That whole time he was locked inside of his head and it drove him crazy. And so yeah, when he got out of there he went after the people who started the fire and I don't blame him for that." Avery slowly explained to him as she checked their mirrors to see if everyone else was catching up with them yet, they'd left a little while before the others.

"Avery, I'm sure what your mom did –didn't help matters with him at all. But Peter has always been kind of off… it's not like this is some new thing for him." He tried to ease her mind as he reached over and trailed his fingers down the side of her face before gently cupping her cheek and smiling as he said, "I'm serious, none of this is your fault."

Closing her eyes she slightly leaned into his touch as she swallowed hard and said, "Maybe some of us have always been a little off."

"Avery-"

"No, Derek." She sighed, as she pulled his hand from her face and held onto it with her smaller hand she pointed out, "Even you said before we left home that only someone as sick and twisted as Peter could understand him."

A look of guilt and regret fell over his face as he remembered saying that to her right before they left for Mexico. He should have known better than to say something like that and even without having his werewolf senses at the time –he felt like she should have picked up on how those words hurt her.

Letting go of his hand she leaned back into her own seat and questioned, "It would take a monster to sympathize with one, right?"

"Stop it." Derek ordered shaking his head, "You're not a monster… you are everything that Peter isn't, you're nothing like him. And I know you used your powers for the fighting back there… we both know that messes with your mind some. We just need to get back home and you need some time to rest and heal."

She nodded knowing he was right and she looked down as she felt his hand back on hers, she smiled softly as she intertwined her fingers with his and tried to remind herself of what was important; Derek was alive and he was showing no signs of wanting to give up on her.

Feeling the mood of the car shift some, he leaned over the console and kissed her as he pulled back he tried to calm her down even more as he pointed out, "Peter's going away to where he can't get back out and hurt anyone else, you'll never have to see him again. And Argent's going to take care of Kate. This chapter of your life is done, neither of them can hurt you anymore… and I wouldn't let them."

Kissing her again he pulled back, leaving his hand on the side of her face as he reminded her, "I'm not going anywhere."

She nodded, leaning in for another kiss as she tried to take his words to heart. But she couldn't help feeling that this chapter wasn't over, that in some ways the war had just begun –even if that was inside of her own mind.

Hearing cars Derek leaned up and looked in the rearview mirror seeing Teagan's car and the van closing in on them, he said "Let's just get back home and we'll figure everything out, okay?"

"Okay." She smiled, as he pulled back out onto the road; leading the trio of cars back towards Beacon Hills.

* * *

><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN- JUST 1 MORE CHAPTER LEFT! CAN YOU GUYS BELIEVE IT?!**

**Thanks so much for reading and thank you to xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, 19irene96, Iris RainbowWolf, xxxRena, SmellYourScentForMiles and Exuberance of Youth for reviewing chapter 47! ^_^**


	48. Let Go and Hold My Hand

**Chapter Forty Eight – Let Go and Hold My Hand**

* * *

><p>Lydia smiled as she saw Avery pulled up to the police station and get out of the driver's seat of Derek car, with a shocked expression Lydia asked, "Is something wrong with your car?"<p>

"No, I was just moving somethings earlier and needed more space." The blonde answered with a warm smile as she hugged her friend. The two hadn't seen each other for a few days, since Avery and everyone else had gotten back into town.

"Did you bring it?" Avery asked her as she stepped back from the hug.

"Yeah, got it right here." Lydia answered as she turned to her car and opened the door and picked up a hardcover book from the passenger seat and displayed it.

"Good thing we decided to make a hard copy of it." The redhead said as they walked into the police station together.

With a small laugh Avery playfully rolled her eyes as she said, "Yeah, we have Teagan to blame for that one. She's always so practical."

Lydia laughed along with her with a genuine smile at seeing her friend seemed to be doing much better that she seemed the day she came back from Mexico. She seemed happier and not as guilt ridden.

They came to a stop at the doorway of the room where they saw Deputy Parrish sitting at a desk doing paperwork.

"Before we do this…" Lydia breathed, "What are yours and Teagan's theories?"

"Well… There are thirteen different types of kitsune and one of them is a fire kitusne?" Avery said with a shrug as she leaned against the door frame.

"Sounds like that would make him fireproof." She nodded.

"But I don't know… there's honestly so many things he could be there's different types of dragons and phoenix." Avery added in some of hers and Teagan's best theories so far.

"Yeah." The redhead nodded, "But who's to say that fire is the only thing he's immune to?"

"Good point." Avery agreed and added, "For all we know it might not even be in here." She said as she looked down to the book Lydia had handed her.

Lydia nodded with a saddened expression on face as she said, "I hope it is… I know what it's like to know there's something different about you, but not have a clue what that thing is." With a helpless smile she looked at her best friend and added in, "Not that having a label helps that much either… I know what I am, but I still don't know much at all."

Avery gave her an empathetic but supportive smile as she grabbed her hand and said, "Come on." Together the girls approached the desk and Parrish looked up when he heard the footsteps.

Giving them a friendly smile he asked, "What are you guys doing here?"

"We brought you something." Lydia said as Avery smiled at him and placed the book down on the desk.

"What is it?" He asked with an arched eyebrow as he stared down to it, but made no attempt to open it.

"This used to be on a hard drive, but we eventually decided it might be a good idea to have a hard copy around, so we made a book out of it." Avery explained as she nodded for him to open it.

Slowly he reached down and opened it on what happened to be the kanima page, his eyebrows lowered in confusion as he looked over the page and the pictures and repeated, "What is it?"

Leaning down on the desk beside him, Lydia answered, "It's called a beastiary."

As he looked back down to the book, Lydia reasoned, "Whatever you are, it might be in here… and we can help you figure it out."

He looked at the teenager for a moment and back down to the book before glancing up to Avery who was looking between her friends with a smile.

"If what you are isn't here… than we have other resources we can use, but we'll figure it out." She assured him with a warm smile before she glanced over to Lydia and said, "But for now… I have somewhere to be –so I'll leave you guys to this."

She gave them another smile before turning to leave, knowing that if anyone could understand what Parrish was going through and be able to help him through it; it was Lydia.

**~()~**

Teagan glanced at herself in the mirror, turning around to look at the back of the black dress she was wearing. Tonight was the night. It was hers and Isaac's year anniversary. He wouldn't tell her where they were going or what he had planned. He just told her to dress up and she figured she couldn't go wrong with a black dress.

Hearing a knock at her bedroom door, she turned her head and called out,"Come in."

She lowered her eyebrows when no one opened the door, instead whoever it was knocked on the door again. She blew out a breath, then walked over to the door, opening the door to see Isaac standing on the other side in a suit and tie.

"What are you doing?" Teagan asked with a laugh.

"Well, usually the date would pick you up from your house, but since I live here too, I figured I would pick you up from your room." Isaac answered with a smile. In the days since they all arrived back from Mexico, Isaac had officially moved into the Young house.

"You are such a dork." Teagan said with a laugh. She laid her hands on his shoulders, as she added,"But you're a cute dork so I'll keep you."

"Good to know." Isaac said, as he laughed back. He pulled his arm from behind his back, holding a rose, as he said,"Happy anniversary, babe."

"Happy anniversary." Teagan said back, as she leaned forward to press her lips against his for a tender kiss.

Teagan smiled as she sniffed the rose while Isaac reached down to grab her hand, intertwining their fingers, as they began to walk down the hall together and down the stairs.

They spoke to her dad for a few minutes and Teagan could swear he had tears in her eyes, but she wasn't sure why. It was almost like he knew something she didn't, but before she could question him, Isaac announced it was time to leave.

"Did I mention how beautiful you look?" Isaac questioned, as the two walked to the car.

Teagan smiled at him, as she shook her head. She came to a stop by the car and leaned back against it, before saying,"Did I tell you how hot you look in that suit?"

"You didn't say, no, but..." Isaac began to say, as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He leaned forward to kiss the side of her neck, before kissing up to her ear and whisper,"But your scent gives you away."

Teagan chuckled as she laid her hands on his chest and ran them up to wrapped them around his neck. She bit her bottom lip, as her cheeks turned a little red, before saying,"Well it has been awhile, you know?"

"Trust me, I know." Isaac breathed out, as he pulled her closer to him. He had a couple of things planned for them, but when she was this close to him, looking the way she was and her scent hitting him, he was close to forgetting everything, but he couldn't. This was a special night and she deserved a special night.

As if reading his mind, she spoke up and said,"I don't know what you have planned, but we could always forget that and just-"

"No." Isaac interrupted, as he shook his head. "You deserve more than a quick screw in the backseat of the car."

"Who says it'll be quick." Teagan teased, as she leaned forward to press her lips against his and rubbed her body against his, causing him to groan.

"There will be plenty of time for that later." Isaac promised, before kissing her again. "But first dinner." He added, as he pulled back to break the kiss.

He opened the passenger side door for her to sit down. He was thankful when she sat down, he knew if she pushed herself against him again, he wouldn't be able to stop it, but he had to stick to his plan. He had to make this night special.

**~()~**

After a nice dinner at one of the fancy restaurants in town, thanks to Avery calling in a few days before for reservations. The owner of the restaurant was one of her father's clients and he owned her dad which resulted in Teagan and Isaac getting the best table in the place and anything they wanted on the house.

Once they left, Isaac announced that was just part one of their date. There was one more part to it. Many minutes later, he parked the car in front of the old house that belonged to Avery's family. It was the place where they got together often to train back with Allison and the place was still used for training, but tonight it was being used for Teagan's second surprise.

Isaac held on to her hand, as the two walked inside together. Her mouth dropped open in surprised as she took in the scene in front of her. There were twinkling lights and flowers all around her, with flower petals leading from the front door to the middle of the room on the left.

She looked over at Isaac with a smile on her face, her eyes asking him what was going on. Instead of answering, he nodded his head toward the trail of flower petals, telling her to follow it.

She began to walk further into the house, following the trail, until she made it to the middle of the room, where an air mattress was with a canopy above it. She smiled, realizing it was a safety bubble.

Isaac grabbed her hand, leaving her over to it, as the two kicked off their shoes and climbed inside. Once they were inside she noticed her laptop was in there as well as some movies.

"Can't have dinner without movies." Isaac pointed out, when she saw her looking over at the dvds.

"This is perfect." Teagan said with a smile, as she leaned forward to softly kiss his lips. "Nothing could make it better."

"I beg to differ." Isaac said, as he reached out to grab something. He held his fist out to her, then turned it over to open his hand up and showing her the fortune cookies. "I know we didn't have chinese, but I remember how much you love the cookies."

She gasped as she took one from his hand, she looked up at him happily, as she said,"I take it back. Now nothing could make it better."

Isaac smiled back, as he nervously licked his bottom lip. He had one more surprise planned and if everything went according to plan, then nothing could make the night better.

He quietly watched her as she opened the cookie and saw her sit the cookie aside, he knew she liked to read the fortune first. As her eyes read over the words, he saw a smile appear on her lips.

"What does it say?" Isaac asked, even though he already knew what it said since he had them specially made for her.

"I love you, Teagan Rose Young." She read out loud, as she raised her head to look at him with a smile.

"Read this one." He said, as he handed her another one.

She opened the cookie, setting it aside, before reading out loud,"You saved my life and I changed yours..." She looked up at him, seeing him holding out another one. She opened it, then continued to read,"You're my safety bubble and I'm your calm..."

"One more." Isaac said, as he handed her the last one.

She continued to smile at him, as she opened it. Tears filled her eyes, as she softly read,"Will you marry me?"

Teagan raised her eyes to look at him, seeing that he was holding a white gold engagement ring. It had a circle of diamonds around the diamond in the middle.

"Isaac..." She breathed out. She knew they had talked about getting engaged before, but she never imagined he would ask now.

"I know we're young, but I also know that you are all I want, Teagan. I'm not asking you to marry me right now, we still need to graduate high school and go to college, but in our world, we never know what the future holds and I wanted this moment with you. The moment I ask you to marry me and that look on your face." He reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek and saw the love she has for him shining through her eyes. "That look right there. I never wanted to miss that look."

"And I know some people might think we are too young, they will make comments about it, but I don't care. Cause the way I see it, there's an age on when to vote, when you can buy beer and so on, but what is the age for love? Whose to say when the right age is?" He smiled at her, as he added,"All I know is, the first day I laid eyes on you, in that white and green dress, I was in love. When I borrowed that green crayon from you, I was in love. When I held your hand after you fell off the jungle gym, I was in love. When you gave me that valentine day card, I was in love." He paused for a moment, trying to get his own emotions under control. "And when I saw you again in that cemetary after you moved back to town, I was still in love. When you came rushing in that restroom all crazed-"

"I wasn't crazed." Teagan interrupted with a chuckle.

He laughed with her, as he said,"You were a little crazed, but I was in love." He laid a hand on the side of her neck, as he added,"And that first time I kissed you... God, I was so completely in love with you, Teagan. I've always been in love with you and I always will. You are all I've ever wanted and all I'll ever want." He pulled her toward him, giving her a tender kiss before resting his forehead against hers, as he whispered out,"Marry me, Teagan."

Teagan pulled back to look at him, a smile on her face, as she said,"One day, you'll going to put a ring on this finger."

Isaac smiled back, remember when he told her that before. He nodded his head, as he said the words she said back to him that day,"And one you're going to say yes." He lightly caressed her cheek, as he questioned,"You are saying yes, right?"

"Of course! Yes, Isaac, yes!" Teagan said with a grin, as she pulled him toward her and pressed her lips against his for a heated kiss.

He chuckled against her lips when he felt her loosening the tie around his neck and try to pull it off. He pulled back a little, as he said,"Wait, wait. Let me get the ring on."

He placed the ring on her finger, looking at it for a moment and felt like he was living a dream. He never thought he would get the girl of his dreams; he hoped, but never thought it would happen. But he got the girl, he got a family like he always wanted. Her father gave him his blessing to ask her and helped him get the perfect ring for her. Their life wasn't perfect, but it was close enough to perfect for him. There was nothing he would change cause out of everything that happened, it led him here with her. It led him to this moment. It led him to his dream.

**~()~**

Avery looked over her shoulder when she heard the door to the loft slide open. A smile spread over her face as Derek walked in, his eyes going straight to Avery who was hanging up her clothes in one of the downstairs closets.

"I told you I'd help you move things." He said with a smile as he saw some boxes stacked up around the loft.

Walking over she said, "I know, but I didn't really have anything to do this morning so I went ahead and moved all of the my things that I already had packed up."

Reaching up she ran her hands up his chest and then locked her wrists behind his neck as she bit down on bottom lip and continued, "You know getting _our_ place set up."

Leaning down he captured her lips in a kiss that set her stomach into flutters as he pulled back and quietly said, "_Our_ place… I like the sound of that."

"Me too." She beamed a bright smile, and started to raise up to kiss him again but then stopped as she said, "I love it here… and I'm going to love living with you, but I was thinking maybe you could knock the wall at the back of my closet so I can fit all of my clothes in there."

He stared at her blankly for a second before he said, "There's an entire other apartment behind that wall…"

"I know." She nodded with a straight face, "I was over there looking earlier and I think it might be big enough for all of my clothes and shoes."

He couldn't help but laugh at her face and the fact that she entirely serious. His eyes locked with hers and he pointed out, "You know I gave you the biggest closet in here… right?"

"Mhmm." She hummed smiling as she pulled his face back to hers and leaned into his muscular frame.

Things had been much better since they'd gotten back from Mexico, Derek hadn't left her side and with his help and constant presence she'd been able to fight the darkness that had came back after using her powers in Mexico.

The more she was around him and not constantly worried about him dying, the more she started to feel like her old self. There was a sense of calmness that she hadn't felt in a long time and an undeniable feeling of being exactly where she belonged.

Her eyes fluttered closed and she tilted her head to the side when she felt his mouth move to the side of her neck, her breath raced in and out of her mouth with her heart starting to pick up speed inside of her chest.

His lips curved into a smile against her skin, he'd missed being able to feel the effect he had on her with his heightened senses and the way her scent instantly calmed him –he couldn't ever get enough of her, that was one thing he entirely sure of.

Avery's eyebrows furrowed in a slight look of frustration when he stopped kissing and gently biting at the sensitive skin on neck. As she opened her eyes she heard him ask, "What the hell is that?"

Looking over her shoulder she smiled widely as she slightly bounced on her feet and pointed out, "That happens to be what people in this century call a television… TV for short."

He rolled his eyes at her sarcasm and looked at the large flat screened TV sitting on a stand facing the couch, "You bought me a TV?" He asked in disbelief.

"I bought _us_ a TV, Derek." She corrected then walked over to the couch as she said, "This is so you can hold me while I watch my favorite movies over and over and over again."

He laughed and couldn't even pretend to be mad at her, he'd give anything just to see her smiling and happy. Walking over he reached out, rubbing his hands down her sides before resting them on her hips as he questioned, "You're okay with all of this, right?"

His eyes moved back and forth searching her face as he continued, "You're not just moving in because I want you too, you're here because you want to be?"

"Don't you know me well enough to know that I wouldn't be here if I didn't really want to be?" She questioned, with raised eyebrows.

Nodding he sighed, "I know you well enough to know you have a habit of putting other peoples happiness above your own."

Wrapping her arms around his midsection, she smiled as she laid her head against his chest and listened to the sound of his beating heart. "I'm exactly where I want to be." She admitted, letting out a content breath as she felt his arms protectively fold around her as if he were trying to shield her from all the dangers their future could bring.

"My dad's okay with everything too." She added, laughing she continued, "Not that I was ever actually home anymore lately… but he made me promise that we'd spend some time at the house and maybe get dinner so he can still see us."

"You mean you." Derek corrected with a small laugh of his own.

"I mean us." She argued, "He really likes you, he always has."

She felt him sigh, but she could hear him smiling as he questioned, "Guess that means I'm getting pulled into these dinners too, huh?"

His eyes drifted down the short hallway leading into the kitchen as he saw boxes stacked in there too and he asked, "Why are there boxes in the kitchen?"

"Because…" She said smiling as she snuggled her face against him, "You don't have very many dishes… and I'm not sure how many pots and pans the standard kitchen has but I don't think you had enough."

He started to argue but she kept rambling on as she remembered back to the first time he'd cooked in front of her, when he'd made them stir-fry and she smiled at the memory as she added, "You have to have things to cook with –that way I can sit on the counter and watch you."

"Watch, but not help?" He laughed, then pointed out, "And we don't need that many plates, it's just us here."

"Yes, but what about when Teagan and Isaac come over? I mean Teagan and I can share a plate but you and Isaac would look kind of funny trying to eat off of just one plate." She joked with a laugh as she pulled out of his arms and flashed him a smile before walking over and opening one of the boxes.

Following her, he argued, "Nope… not happening. I have a strict no-Teagan policy."

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she turned and playfully smacked his arm, "We're a packaged deal, you know. You can't have one without the other and I think you're growing on her. When I talk about you, her face doesn't scrunch up like it used to."

"Well, I guess that's progress." He joked, knowing now that Avery was moving in with him he was probably going to be seeing a lot of her best friend around. Plus, even he knew that since he'd almost died in Mexico trying to save Avery, Teagan was accepting him more.

He pulled in a breath with that thought and figured that it probably wouldn't last long, if their history had proved anything –it was that every time they started to get along, he always did something to make her mad at him again.

Avery looked over her eyes stopping on her open laptop on the bed, still open to her internet search of Nagual werejaguars. With widened eyes realized she'd forgotten to shut her computer and she didn't want him to know she was still trying to learn about what Kate had turned into –he thought she was putting Kate in her past and chaining that door up tight.

"Can you help with this box?" She innocently questioned as she stood blocking the view of the bed and her computer.

With a nod he ripped the box flaps open and started to unpack it as Avery scurried over to the bed and shut her computer, she stood with her back to him. A part of her wanting to tell him she'd still been thinking about the hunter who'd almost killed her and another part of her really wishing she could let it go the way Derek thought she was.

"Uh…" Derek breathed.

Avery spun around, hoping he hadn't seen what she'd been searching for on her computer.

"What?" She asked, her voice a few octaves higher than normal and almost in a squeak.

Not seeming to notice her strange behavior Derek looked over at her, "At first I saw this… and I was interested." He said as he held up a plastic stick toy with feathers and small bells at end.

Avery held back a laugh at realizing what he must have thought to begin with.

"Then I found this…" He continued as he held up a black leash with dark blue rhinestones on it.

This time she wasn't able to hold back her laugh as she covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head at him.

"I was still kind interested until I came across this." He continued, displaying a small fuzzy yellow bird toy that made a squeak noise when it was moved around. She stared at him laughing as he held it out to the side and shook it causing it to squeak before he added, "Now I'm confused not sure how to feel about this." He said dropping the bird and picking the feather toy back up.

"Well you see… the TV wasn't my only surprise." Avery said with an anxious but hopeful expression as she walked over to the closet she'd been filling with her things and bent down, unzipping the cloth carrier she'd brought.

As she turned around and Derek saw Avery was holding onto her black pet cat, Annabel Lee he shook his head back and forth as he flatly stated, "No."

"Oh, come on Derek! How can you say no to this face?" She questioned as she held the cat up between them and almost instantly Annabel started hissing at the werewolf.

"Easily." Derek reasoned as he leaned closer and said, "No."

"Derek!" Avery yelled as she held her cat against her and petted her as she looked back up to her boyfriend and said, "This is part of the agreement with my dad letting me move out. At first it was Annabel moves with me but then he realized how much he'd miss her so we're only keeping her half of the time."

He crossed his arms over his chest still clearly not happy with the idea.

"It's not a bad deal right?" Avery asked setting her cat down on the foot of the bed before turning back to Derek and finishing, "You might have to put up with her being here for half of the time… but then you get me here, all of the time."

"So in order for you to move in with me –we're going to have to share custody of the cat with your dad?" He pieced what she was saying together.

Avery nodded biting down on her bottom lip and giving him a look that there was no way he could say no to.

Finally his arms dropped to his side as he sighed and she knew she'd won –she and her pet cat were moving in to the loft with him.

"She'll grow on you, I promise!" Avery exclaimed as she pointed out, "She already likes you when you're sleeping, now we just need her to like you while you're awake too."

"If you really want us to leave, we will." Avery offered; nodding to where her cat was now purring loudly and kneading the blanket on the bed with her paws.

"I want you here." He assured her, tucking some hair behind her ear as he brought her face to his and quietly admitted, "I always want you."

She smiled as she melted into his kiss and touch, but before things got too heated she pulled back, arching a brow as she asked, "Why exactly do you always want me around?"

Pretending to be annoyed he sighed and looked up to the ceiling as he held her close to him and pointed out, "You know why."

"Do I?" She asked pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and holding back a moan as his hands rubbed over her clothed body and his mouth focused back on the side of her neck. Rolling her head to the side, she said in a breathy voice, "I think I need you to remind me why." Her fingertips dug into the muscled skin of his upper arms as he smiled against her skin and his facial hair gently scratched against her tender flesh with every movement he made.

Leaning back up his eyes locked with hers and he said, "Because I love you."

"And I love you." She answered back, both of then locked in an intense passionate stare as they thought of how many times they'd came so close to losing the other.

But for now at least, things were calmer than they'd been in a long time and their latest war was won. Everyone had made it back home safe from Mexico and for the first time in a long time, she could breathe. The usual chaos and noise inside of her head was silent.

She lowered her head for a moment thinking how incredible her life was, even with all of the bad and the pain she'd been through –she felt truly lucky to have the best friends in the world and to have the love of her life alive and well with her.

Raising her head she caught the look in his eyes before he captured her lips in a kiss that showed her exactly how much he loved her and she melted helplessly into the moment with him. The way he looked at her; the way he made her feel was everything.

The future was uncertain, nothing was guaranteed but she knew she as long as she had him she'd have the strength to overcome any obstacle, face any enemy and maybe even continue to chase away the darkness inside of her.

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><p><em>~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~<em>

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><p><strong>AN- Thank you all so much for reading! As you all know, sadly this is the last chapter of A New Blue Moon. We really hope you liked the way we tied everything up for Teagan and Avery. Sharing the girls' journeys spanning out over 4 stories with all of you has been one of the greatest experiences ever. ^_^**

**Miss E Charlotte and I have several other stories and links to our Tumblrs up on our profiles, in case you wanted check them out or follows us.**

**As thankful as we are to everyone who has stuck with us through this story, we owe an extra special thank you to SmellYourScentForMiles, Iris RainbowWolf, xxXWolfsLullabyXxx, Exuberance of Youth and the lovely xxxRena all for reviewing chapter 47. You guys are all amazing and we appreciate the support so much!**

**Stay inspired!**

**XO- Sage Londyn & Miss E Charlotte**


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